


The Menace Next Door

by FassyAnon



Category: Actor RPF, Chris Evans - Fandom
Genre: And hands, And more kissing, Chris is a bad boy, Cunnilingus, Delayed Orgasm, Discussion of Violence, EpiPen usage, F/M, Fellatio, More teasing, PIV Sex, Pain, Sleep Deprivation, Teasing, Ukulele, and beer, and hurt feelings, and kissing, and naked groping, and puddles of water, and tears, and vodka, before Kelly clears the air, but he gets to feel things, daffodils, emergency room visit, lots of anger, lots of pain, mangled knees, misuse of a Brita pitcher, naked times, soft things, some yelling, unprotected sex
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-21
Updated: 2016-07-16
Packaged: 2018-04-05 11:32:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 37,274
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4178178
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FassyAnon/pseuds/FassyAnon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kelly, rudely woken by the racket next door, reluctantly confronts her neighbor.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

 

* * *

She squinted her eyes open, finding it still to be pitch black and hoping that the screeching noise that woke her was all just a bad dream and that she could turn back over and catch a few more zzz’s. She could have heard a pin drop.

_Thank the gods._

Trying to focus on her clock, the first number she registered was a 2. Ugh, she shouldn’t have done that. But, at least it had all just been a dream.

Nope, she wasn’t that lucky.

It wasn’t exactly screeching. It sounded more like an animal being tortured, or maybe she’d been magically transported to Hawaii?

_What the what?_

Kelly tried putting her pillow over her head, then she tried putting two pillows over her head.

She realized she’d probably be late to her interview the next morning because she was going to commit murder. No, manslaughter, it would definitely be manslaughter. The sound coming from her neighbor’s townhouse would absolutely be a mitigating factor. Just get a couple of people on the jury who share walls with noisy neighbors and hell, she might even be acquitted.

Kelly was still pretty sure she was happy about quitting law school. Most days she was, anyway. Then there was today, well, tomorrow, really. She was nervous about her interview. She was never nervous about anything, but in this case she was. She was in desperate need of a job and a friend of a friend of a former classmate needed an assistant. Sure, she’d gone to Notre Dame, but her PoliSci degree had been perfect for her career as a lawyer. When she quit that, she’d quit all of it. Her passion for the law, for politics, had been yanked out of her hands and ground into the muck and dirt. There was no way in hell she was heading back in that direction.

At least, that was what she kept telling herself when headhunters kept calling, trying to get her to take a position-

No. She was not going to do that. She wouldn’t work on a campaign, no matter how desperate she became. She wasn’t going to go back to working for those blood-sucking leeches.

Kelly chastised herself: there was no reason to put leeches down like that.

She’d tried to find work, but things weren’t panning out. She was going to have to move back in with her parents if she couldn’t find work within the next month. She was desperate for a job and finally had a real opportunity. She didn’t want to mess it up.

If only her neighbor would stop with all the racket.

Kelly checked the time and was not pleased, not pleased at all. She was pretty sure that the yahoo would still be going strong for  _another_  30 minutes at the rate he was going.

She’d had it.

Rooting around in her clean laundry basket, she grabbed the first thing that felt like a t-shirt. She wasn’t about to put on a show for the squid-sucking son of a jellyfish who’d recently moved in next door.

She didn't mind confrontation at work; she hated it in her personal life, though. Loathed it. Despised it. But it was a necessary evil, especially if she was going to look the part for the interview.

After opening her door and engaging the deadbolt so she wouldn’t lock herself out of her place, she descended her steps and made her way up his three. She took a deep breath and then knocked. Hard. Pounded on the door was more like it.

At last, the sound stopped and the door opened.

“A little late-”

Kelly held up her hand and the man in front of her stopped talking.

“I would greatly appreciate it if you wouldn’t mind quieting down whatever it is that you are doing, or, I don’t know, maybe you could stop murdering cats or whatever it is that you are doing in there. I have a really important interview tomorrow morning and I need to get some sleep if I’m going to be presentable and make a good impression.”

“I’m sorry, I had no idea anyone else could hear me. See, I got this for my birthday and it’s-”

“That’s great. Happy birthday. Sorry to be so rude, but I’m gonna head back to bed.”

_Want some company?_

Kelly headed back to her place, unaware that Chris had stepped onto the stoop and was observing her retreating form, or, more specifically, how her bum peeked out from below her t-shirt and did that adorable wiggle as she walked.

Chris may have woken her up, but she was definitely going to keep him up.


	2. Chapter 2

Kelly woke the next morning, not knowing just how awful her day would be once she stepped out her front door. By the end of the day, she’d be wondering who had it out for her.

It started out with her being thankful that her neighbor had not continued with that racket. She was sluggish as she showered so she had a colder shower than she would have liked and it did the trick: she was wide awake.

Contacts and skincare taken care of before fortifying her alertness with strong coffee, she got ready. Sure, her interview wasn’t for a few hours, but she preferred to be ready to go before she made her final preparations.

Makeup, hair, clothes. She didn’t get dressed right away, rather she checked over her suit and heels, ensuring everything was clean and she’d be presentable.

She refilled her coffee, grabbed some oatmeal, and finished her research with plenty of time to spare before getting dressed. Things were looking up.

She checked herself in the full-length mirror in the bedroom one last time before grabbing her coffee, purse, and portfolio and headed out the front door.

And that was her first mistake. Well, stepping out her front door wasn’t a mistake, rather, not slinging her purse over her shoulder and not carrying her portfolio under her arm. Those items blocked her view so she didn’t see them when she turned to head down the stairs.

The flowers, stuck in a water pitcher that had been left in front of her door.

She promptly tripped over them, broke her heel, and fell to the stoop. Had it been nice, smooth concrete she probably would have been mostly okay, but it was rocks mixed in with concrete so the surface was extremely rough. She tore the heel of her writing hand, along with both knees, right through the pants. Tears sprang to her eyes: she was in so much pain.

It took her a moment to gather herself. Once the full force of the pain sunk in, she did everything in her power to trap the scream that was trying to escape in her throat. When the urge to raise the dead passed, she surveyed herself and sprang to action. She had to change, and fast.

Grabbing the flowers and makeshift vase (who on earth would leave stargazer lilies?), along with everything else, she rushed back in.

_Ugh! Even if my pants weren’t ruined I couldn’t wear this: pollen everywhere!_

Kelly pulled out several suits, but the only other one with pants wouldn’t work, there was a stain on the jacket from when that reporter had run into her with the hotdog- _that mustard was never going to come out_. She quickly pulled a couple of other suits out and was trying to decide between them when she stripped off her pants and felt like crying: her knees were a bloody raw mess. She couldn’t wear any of her lighter suits, seeing as how she’d get blood all over, so she chose her deep green. Sure, it was wool. Sure, it was Atlanta and it was hot, but it was her best alternative. She would have preferred her dark charcoal grey, but, unfortunately, her shoes were ruined. She could try her boots-

NOPE! They rubbed against her injured knees and that wouldn’t do.

She patched herself up, nary a Band-Aid in sight, as best as she could and got dressed. She wasn’t nearly as comfortable, but she had no choice. She grabbed a towel to hold against her knees, stop the bleeding, and headed out the front door.

Second problem: traffic accident. What made it worse was that she saw the accident happen. If whoever had left those flowers had left them to the side of the stoop, she would have never been stopped by the accident.

Third problem: she missed her turnoff. She tried taking the next exit and backtracking, but the streets were all twisty and she didn’t know where she was.

Finally, finally she found the entrance. Checking her watch she saw that she was half an hour late. Great. She’d blown the interview before she ever showed up. She put on a brave face and was allowed onto the property.

The interview didn’t start all that well, but at least she had a reason for being late that anyone, and everyone, could see.

They were concerned that she’d done it on their property, and she reassured them that she hadn’t. She told them an abbreviated version of what had happened, made a joke about it being only a flesh wound, and the interview started.

It wasn’t her best interview ever, and she was trying to break into a completely new industry so she couldn’t answer all their questions to her satisfaction. Still, they gave her a tour of the place and told her about the stuff that was going on there, and she even saw some of the actors who were being ushered by a PA to whatever location they were heading. There were quite a few double-takes: blood streaks down your shins tend to do that to you.

She knew she didn’t get the job when she left.

>< 

“Hey, Paul, who was that I saw you with earlier today? That woman in green?”

“One of the people we’re considering for a coordinator job. She didn’t do terribly well in the interview, but out of courtesy to Mike’s daughter, and she just could have been really flustered by what happened to her before she got here we showed her around.”

“What happened to her?”

“Someone left flowers on her stoop and she tripped over them. It was why she was all bloody and late.”

“Seriously?”

“Yeah. But I tell you, she shot right to the top after we passed you and then Mackie. His reaction to her? She didn’t get embarrassed nor did she go gaga. I’d never seen anyone with so much poise. I took a second look at her resume and realized why: she was a political campaign consultant and then went back to law school. She dropped out and doesn’t want that anymore, won’t say why. We’re seriously considering her now.”

“Do me a favor, hire her.”

“Evans, I’m not hiring some girl-”

“It’s not like that, Paul. I mean, she’s gorgeous, don’t get me wrong. But her shit was actually my fault.”

“How’s that? Did you put those flowers in front of her door?” Paul had been joking. One look at Chris’s face told him that was exactly what happened.

“Well, see, there was this ukulele that I was playing, and I woke her up, and it was close to 3, and you should have seen her in that t-shirt, and I thought I’d make a peace offering, and, well, you know the rest.”

“Only you, Evans. Only you.”

“Will you?”

“I’ve got one more interview, heading to meet him now.”

“Him?”

“Yes, him. Unless he impresses me more, she’s got the job.”

>< 

Chris found the flowers and his Brita pitcher in front of his door when he got home. The note taped to his door made her sentiments very clear as to his intentions.

_YOU ARE A BAD PENNY: STAY AWAY FROM ME_

_I don’t know who you are or what you have against me, but I was late to my interview today and I’m sure I didn’t get the job because of you and your stupid flowers. My $600 suit is ruined and I’m in some serious pain. Do me a favor and stay quiet and stay away._

_K_

Chris knew he was going to have to remedy the situation. But how?


	3. Chapter 3

Try as she might, Kelly wasn’t able to get comfortable. Her knees and hand were throbbing and her head, not wanting to be left out, got in on the act as well. She felt like crying; she wanted to let loose, let all her frustrations, her disappointment, let her anger out, but she couldn’t give in. She had to come up with a plan. If only her hand and knees would stop taking over her every waking thought.

That was something she could do. She needed to get some sterile dressing, she was sure there’d be some sort of topical antiseptic, an antibiotic creme or ointment: she needed to get to a pharmacy.

The only problem was, she needed to get dressed and clothes were going to be a problem. Hell, moving was going to be a problem.

It took her about an hour to get dressed. She knew she couldn’t do jeans, but when she tried sweats (she didn’t want the stares that she knew she’d end up getting) she just about passed out when she tried walking in them, the fabric bumping against her knees. She switched to shorts and things were a little better.

She grabbed her purse and headed out the front door. Memories of that morning played in her mind as she turned to walk down the steps. She was concentrating on how to walk and ensuring she wasn’t going to trip over anything that she missed the man walking towards her, a grimace on his face and looking quite contrite.

“Excuse me, but, do you need some help.”

“No, thank- oh, it’s you.”

“Did my flowers have something to do with this?”

“Who leaves flowers in front of a door where they can be tripped over? Yes, this is all because of you.”  _My mother raised me better than this_ , Kelly thought, but she couldn’t help herself.

“Is there anything I can do?”

“No, you’ve done enough.” Kelly tried to take a step to get past him and walked too close to the overgrown hedge. When it hit her knee, she cried out and collapsed, tears immediately springing to her eyes. Luckily, her neighbor caught her. She didn’t know what would have happened if she’d hit her knees on the sidewalk.

“Let’s get you back inside.”

“No, I need to get to the drug store.”

Chris knew how he could start to make it up to her.

“Let me go for you.” He cut her off before she could voice her protest. “It is the least I can do for what I’ve done to you. Make a list, I’ll take care of it. I won’t even make my assistant do it.”

“Assistant?”

“Never mind. Come on.” He picked her up and, realizing he wasn’t going to take no for an answer, and that it was actually more than a bit of relief, she let him take her back to her place. He set her down on her sofa and grabbed some paper and a pen from near her phone.

Kelly wrote out and handed the list to him with some cash. Rather than get into an argument with her, Chris decided to take the money, fully intending to pay for everything himself. It would be the beginning of repaying her.

He had a hell of a time at the store. There were all sorts of brands for everything on her list and he didn’t know if she had a preference. You couldn’t go wrong with getting the most familiar name, right?

He added a bottle of vodka, having noticed that brand she had in her freezer (she’d asked him for some ice water while she’d put her list together and he couldn’t help but notice, especially since he stared at the contents for long enough) and he picked up some beer for himself (he might as well). He picked up a couple of other odds and ends that the pharmacist recommended and headed back to her place.

When he walked in (having left the door open so she wouldn’t need to get up), Kelly was on the phone.

“Mother, you cannot make me go back.”

Her exasperated tone told Chris that this was not the first time she’d had this conversation with her mom.

“I do not care how much money you shelled out for my education. You have no idea, no fucking clue-yes I did just swear, Mother-what happened on that campaign. If you did, then you would’ve backed me on my decision. I can’t put up with that… that crap anymore. I will not be an attorney, either. I’m going to do something else.”

She turned and saw Chris standing in the doorway, not wanting to come in and interrupt. She used him to her advantage.

“Mother, I have a friend here, and I’m being quite rude by neglecting him. You don’t want me to be rude, do you?”

Kelly waved him in and as he passed her, she mouthed, “say something”. It took a moment for him to think of something.

“Are you hungry? Would you prefer steaks or chicken tonight?”

“Steak would be wonderful. Thank you, Michael.”

Kelly wasn’t sure what that look from ‘Michael’ was.

“I gotta go, Mother. I’ll call you. Bye.”

She closed her eyes and sank back onto the couch. It took only a few moments and then her eyes popped open. Kelly was beside herself when she saw the number of packages in his hands.

“I didn’t give you nearly enough money for all this. What is going on?”

“No, you didn’t, but not to worry. I paid for everything.”

All her fight left her when she heard that.

“I didn’t ask for that.”

“No, and you shouldn’t have to. Were you able to clean those?” He pointed at her knees and then got a really good look and couldn’t help but wince at the thought of trying to clean them.

“Not until I got back from my interview.”

“I know it’ll hurt, but I think it best to clean them again, at least, that’s what the pharmacist recommended.. I’ve got some saline and an antibacterial wash. How do you feel about a shot or two of vodka, dull the pain a little?”

“How about you leave and I just take care of myself?”

“Why do I have the feeling that you’d just slap on a couple of bandages?”

He knew he had her when she groaned. He got sidetracked, thinking about getting her to make that sound under better circumstances as he headed into the kitchen and grabbed the vodka for her an a beer for himself.

Kelly saw the glass appear over her shoulder before he walked back into the room. She took a big gulp and was thankful he’d found her stash in the freezer.

“Also, I think if you’re going to lie to your mother, the next time you might want to use my name, it would make it easier. I’m Chris.”

“I didn’t lie. I was being rude by ignoring you.”

“But I’m not a friend.”

Kelly had been thinking about how she’d probably come across during the couple of encounters they’d had, and in the note she’d left, too. She’d been raised better than that. Then, the well-timed call from her mother and she knew the universe was telling her that she’d behaved poorly. She softened her tone even more.

“No, you’re not, but you’re not my enemy either. You didn’t do this to me intentionally. If you’d known others could hear the racket you were making this morning, would you have been playing whatever it was?”

“You mean the ukulele that someone gave me for my birthday? No, definitely not.”

“And then you wouldn’t have felt the need to put flowers on my stoop and I wouldn’t have tripped and fallen down. So it was all because you’re what, a night owl?”

“Sometimes it’s insomnia, sometimes it’s the work I do.”

“What do you do?”

“Nothing special. What about you? What do you do?”

“I don’t know is the most correct answer.” She took another gulp and then relaxed back onto the cushions. She’d had nothing to eat and felt the effects start to kick in.

“You said something about a campaign?”

“That is most definitely  _not_  what I do anymore.”

“Sounds like there’s a story there.”

“And one that I am legally obligated to keep to myself.” She tossed back the last of the vodka and set the tumbler on her tummy, becoming mesmerized with its movement as she breathed. It was a few minutes before she spoke. “I worked my whole life towardsh shomething and when I get it, I find out it washn’t what I thought it’d be. Now, not ‘nuff money in the world for me to do it again. Not in a million fuckin’ yearsh.”

The slight tilt to the ‘sh’ from the ‘s’ sound was what Chris had been listening for. He picked her up off the couch and carried her back to her bathroom. He figured the tub would be the safest place to try to clean her up.

“You’re really shtrong, you know that, Chrish?”

Kelly sighed as they got to her bathroom, and Chris saw the towels covered in blood and her suit in the corner, littering the floor. He set her down in the tub.

“I’m not taking a bath with you.”

“Aw, sweetheart, I know you couldn’t handle it right now. Maybe once you’re all healed up.”

“I’m not your shweetheart.”

“Not yet, anyway. You haven’t told me your name.”

“Do you want my real name, or my fake name?”

“You have a fake name?” He chuckled at her exaggerated head nod. “Why don’t we start with that one.”

“Kelly.”

“Nice to meet you, Kelly. Now, how about your real one.”

“Nope, you only get one. You haven’t earned my real name yet.”

“Sure, whatever you say, Kelly. How about I go get the stuff so I can get you cleaned up.”

 

* * *

 

It was about half an hour later that Chris emerged with Kelly in his arms with her tear-stained cheeks and sniffles and red-rimmed eyes. She’d done what she could, but she’d been in agony and had finally given in to the pain she’d felt. Chris finished up as quickly as he could and then put on the antibiotic ointment and covered her wounds. He sat on the edge of the bed with her, helping Kelly to come back down from all the pain she’d felt.

“Mmmm, you smell good.” Kelly stuck her nose in the crook of Chris’s neck and took a deep whiff.

“I do?” He was constantly surprised by what came out of her mouth, and again, she didn’t disappoint.

“Mmhmm.”

Chris helped her get situated and pulled only the sheet up over her. He took care of a few things before he left.

“Kel?”

“Hm?”

“I think I’m going to go so you can get some sleep. You’ve got water here, next to your bed. I’ve put the ibuprofen there, too.”

“You won’t play your uk-a-lele tonight, will you? Wake me up?” She was on the verge of sleep already, the pain having both sobered her up and exhausted her.

“No, I’ll let you sleep tonight. I’ll keep you up some other night.”

“Mmm. Promises promises.”


	4. Chapter 4

Poor Kelly. She woke up a couple of times during the night in some serious pain. She came close to pounding on the wall, wondering if she’d get Chris’s attention, when she saw her bedside table. She was grateful for Chris having thought to leave the water and pain meds by her bed. Each time it took her more time than she wanted to fall back asleep, but she was at least able to sleep.

She did have odd, vivid dreams.

The first: she was in her kitchen, fixing dinner for her husband and children when she got a call letting her know she’d won the lottery. When she hung up the phone, she couldn’t move as her feet were encased in cement. She tried calling out to her husband but no sound would come out. She continued trying, multiple times, but her silent yells turned into silent screams the longer she wasn’t able to make a sound. She began to panic and when she was finally able to scream, she woke up, a scream in her throat.

Then there was the one that she was being chased by a royal blue dragon that had lost its ability to fly and breathe fire (there were puffs of smoke coming out of its mouth) so it was riding a moose like it was a horse. When she woke up and recalled that dream, Kelly couldn’t help but laugh.

Naturally, though, she screamed when Chris poked his head in to see what she was laughing at. At first, the scream was driven by fear and being startled. It morphed, though, to one of pain when she realized who it was and stopped trying to get out of bed.

Chris strode to the side of her bed and knelt on the floor.

“I’m sorry. I came in to check on you and thought you might want some coffee so I was making some and suddenly there was laughter and I forgot you didn’t know I was here and I’m sorry. Are you okay?”

“How did you get in?”

“I took your keys with me. I thought that if you had problems during the night you’d probably bang on the wall but I wasn’t about to break your door down.”

“Better than leaving the door unlocked, good thinking. I almost needed to, too.”

“Why didn’t you?”

“I would have if you hadn’t left me the water and Advil. Thank you, that was really thoughtful.”

Chris almost kicked himself for being so thoughtful, then remembered that Kelly would have been in pain if she’d pounded on the wall.

“It was the least I could do.”

“Well, thank you anyway.”

“How about I go get you some coffee, and then we take a look at your bandages, see how things are looking?”

“I don’t need you to take care of me. I can do that.”

“Kelly, as much as you were yelling just a couple of minutes ago, I’d feel better if you’d let me help.”

“You’re not going to let this go, are you?”

“No, I’m not. Please, let me help you.”

“Fine.”

 

* * *

Chris was glad he’d come over earlier than he’d originally planned. Kelly was still in pain, and a lot of it. He tried to convince her to go see a doctor, but she wouldn’t budge. It took him longer than they both wanted to change the bandages, gently cleaning out the wounds, reapplying the salve and clean bandages. When he carried Kelly back to her bed, he felt her collapse from exhaustion. He hoped that she’d be able to rest, give her body some time to recover.

He was heading back to the kitchen to grab some more coffee when a thought occurred to him and he poked his head in her bedroom.

“When was the last time you ate?”

“Food, not drugs? I think I had a piece of toast for lunch yesterday. Why?”

“Okay, I’m going to-don’t even argue-I’m going to make breakfast, and I’m going to put something together for your lunch.”

“But-”

“I said don’t argue. How are you supposed to get well? How is your body supposed to create all that skin if you aren’t feeding it? We both know you’re still in pain. I bet you wouldn’t fix yourself anything, would you? You wouldn’t eat, would you? Am I right?”

“Fine, you got me. I won’t argue.” Kelly laughed to herself when she realized something. “I’m normally not this easy. I think the pain has me being entirely too agreeable.”

Chris almost said what was on his mind but Kelly beat him to it.

“Agreeable, yet grumpy. Chris, I need to apologize to you.”

“Why are you apologizing to me?”

“I’ve been really rude.”

“No, you haven’t. Well, not  _really_.”

“I took my anger and frustration out on you and that’s not right. I’d had a bad interview and I was feeling pressure and I was just an evil bitch and that wasn’t fair. I called you a bad penny, that’s just rude, awful, unforgiveable. You’ve been nothing but nice to me and you’re taking care of me. Can you forgive me?”

“I-”  
Kelly’s phone rang, interrupting Chris.

“Ooo, would you mind?”

Chris got up and grabbed her phone from the dresser. With his back still to her he schooled his expression before turning around.

“Um, it’s some guy named Paul?”

“Yes! Oh my God, yes!”

Chris rushed the phone over to Kelly, knowing full well who it was. After handing the phone to her, he tried to back out of the room to give her some privacy.

With her thumb hovering over ‘accept’, she reached out to him with her other hand, waving him back.

“Stay?”

When she saw him walking towards her she answered.

“Hello? Speaking… Yes, hi, how are you?” She closed her eyes as she grabbed onto Chris’s forearm when he sat next to her. He put his hand on top of hers, reassuring her. She flipped hers over and grabbed onto his hand.

“Yeah, I bet it was kinda hard to forget those. Actually, I have a friend and he helped me out last night, so I’m already on the mend. Thank you for asking.” She squeezed Chris’s hand and took a deep breath once Paul started speaking again and then a huge grin broke out on her face. Chris could see she was doing everything she could to stay in control.

“I’m honestly shocked after that interview, which was not my finest hour, but I don’t need to think about it. Absolutely I want to work for you. I accept your offer.”

It was when she continued that Chris started to get a sense of some of what she’d dealt with in her past life.

“Ah, yes, well, when you’ve spent too much time with the people in Washington who write the laws or who hold billions of dollars in their hands, or, worse, the billionaires who control the super-pacs, you know, you get to see  _all_  their faults and learn that people are just people.”

“Oh, sure, probably, hmm, Nobel Laureates, or Stephen Hawking, or the Dalai Lama, you know, people who have a real and lasting impact on others, people like that. I will say, when I met Dr. Steven Chu, my hands were sweating and shaking. ”

Kelly turned to Chris, still beaming and finally under control.

“He’s here with me right now. No, no, he’s just a friend, next door neighbor, actually. Yeah, that one. No, no no, no, he took care of me last night, went to the store for me, helped me clean up, made sure I got sleep. And he came over this morning, wanted to make sure I was okay before he left for the day. He’s trying to make amends. Don’t tell him this, but he might actually be a good guy.” Kelly gave Chris the side-eye and he wondered what was up. “Seriously? Um, okay.”

She took the phone from her ear.

“Um, my new boss is telling me to tell you that you better take good care of me and make me better soon or he’ll come down here and not be nice to you, and he wants to talk to you.”

“Is that what Paul actually said?”

“You mean verbatim?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m paraphrasing.”

“I can only imagine what he actually said. Let me.” Chris chuckled, as he held out his hand and she gave him her phone.

“Look, Paul, don’t worry. I’ll make sure Kelly’s ready for work by… when’s your first day?”

Kelly answered while Paul spoke to Chris.

“I don’t know, he hasn’t told me yet.”

“You are on dangerous ground, Chris. I suggest you come clean before she starts working here. Tell her that her first day is the 29th. And be sure you tell her that she’ll be seeing you here.”

“Paul says your first day is the 29th and he’s really happy you accepted.”

“Yes, I am very happy she accepted, but seriously, Chris, you need to tell her.”

“Yeah, okay, here she is.”

Chris handed the phone back and gripped it a little bit tighter when she put her hand on it. He wanted to tell her-

“Congratulations, I’m really happy for you, and I’m glad I didn’t screw it up.”

“Thank you.”

As Kelly finished up her conversation with Paul, Chris went back into the kitchen to finish fixing breakfast. He thought about what Paul had said and he knew he was right, but now wasn’t the time. He plated the food and found a tray. Kelly was just getting off the phone when he walked in.

“Chris, you didn’t need to do that.”

He set the tray on her lap, careful to avoid her knees. “Considering that I told your new boss that I’d make sure you were ready, I kinda gotta. “

“Okay, well, this is the last time you help.”

“Until tonight.”

He saw the look on her face and continued, cutting off her reply.

“Even if all I do is to stop in and make sure you’re alive and you’re mobile and you’re not dealing with infection and you’re eating, you know, make sure you’ll be able to show up to work on your first day? I won’t take no for an answer.”

“Chris, I don’t need that. I’m an adult.”

“I’d appreciate it if you’d humor me, just for today. Besides, I’m going to have something for you and I need to give it to you.”

“What’s that?”

“I’d rather wait until I have it and know for sure. Look, I gotta get going. I left my number on the counter in the kitchen. If you need anything, text or call. I’ll see you later.”

It wasn’t until Chris was halfway to the car that a smile broke out on his face: he’d just realized he’d kissed Kelly on her forehead before he left.


	5. Chapter 5

He tried. Really, he did. Chris had the best of intentions of telling Kelly that he’d seen her on the day of her interview and he was working at the studio. He really did, but there were several problems.

First, she didn’t know who he was, of that he was certain. He didn’t just kinda like that, he liked it. It was nice being around someone who didn’t fawn all over him, or who didn’t proposition him, or who wasn’t shy because he was someone who was known. She treated him like a real person. He was pretty sure she’d keep treating him like a real person, the better he got to know her, but he didn’t want to chance it.

Second, there never was a good time.

He had intentions of telling her when he went over to see her the first night, but that didn’t work out. Not at all.

It started out okay. She’d texted him just as he was heading out for his first scene of the day.

_I don’t like to assume that someone has accepted my apology just because they were interrupted by a phone call that turned out to be a job offer and they were happy for me. Can you forgive me?_

He didn’t have time to text back as he was headed out the door. It was almost three hours later when he had his phone back and finally had time to respond.

_As far as I’m concerned, you don’t have anything to apologize for. I was the one who caused problems for you. Forgive me?_

He thought maybe her lack of response was in retaliation for it taking him so long to respond to her, but she hadn’t seemed like that kind of person.

It was several hours later when he finally got home. He dropped his stuff off in his place before going to hers. Chris unlocked her door and let himself in. He glanced around and didn’t see her in the living room, not that he would’ve expected her to be there, but he was hopeful. When he checked her bedroom, though, she wasn’t there. He was perplexed.

“Kelly?”

“I’m in the bathroom.”

“Oh, okay, I’ll just go out-”

“NO! No no no!” shouting, then silence. From behind a closed door. That was not a good sign.

“Um, I may have had a cocktail this afternoon.” Chris waited for her to continue. “Or three. I’ve gotten myself into a bit of a pickle and I need some help.”

Chris opened the door and walked into the bathroom-

“NONONO! Turn around!”

Chris pivoted too quickly, slipping on the water on the bathroom floor and fell, landing solidly on his hip with a loud-

“Uh!”

“Chris! Oh my God, are you okay?”

Kelly watched as Chris got up and rubbed his butt. “Yeah. My ego’s bruised.” He started to turn around, slowly.

“Please don’t turn around. I’m naked.”

“Oh.”

“And I need help getting out.”

Chris thought about it for a moment.

“What happened?”

“Well, so I had some lunch, the sandwich was good, by the way.”

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. And I felt like celebrating, and I’m not working, and it was after five somewhere in the world, and I fixed myself a sea breeze… or three, and decided to take a bath, because I hadn’t yet today. I didn’t count on kinda falling asleep in the tub and waking up and my knees killing me and not being able to get them wet with soapy water without me, oh, I don’t know, screaming like I was being murdered. In short, I can’t get out.”

“Well, as I see it, I’m going to have to face you to help you out, so here,” he grabbed the towel that was hanging on the wall next to him and thrust it in her direction.

When she was ready, Chris turned and then helped her out of the tub. They were almost in the clear, and if he’d cleaned up the water off the floor that he’d already slipped on once, they would have been in the clear, but they weren’t that lucky.

This time, when he slipped, he took Kelly with him. It was a miracle that Kelly didn’t hit her knees on anything. They both couldn’t help the peals of laughter that came from them once they realized that they were okay.

Until Kelly’s eyes went wide as saucers when she realized Chris’s hand was on her butt. Her  _naked_  butt. She’d been holding the towel with the opening in the back and when they fell, she’d let go, wanting to control her fall. All laughter ceased when a surprised Chris realized what he had beneath his hand and they both stopped all movement. Well, all movement but Chris’s hand over her smooth bath-slicked skin… firm yet giving flesh. Kelly failed miserably when she tried to control her shuddering breath. Chris almost gave in to what he’d wanted to do since she’d knocked on his door just two nights ago.

Then something else of Chris’s stirred and both their eyes went wide as saucers when they felt what was happening. Chris grabbed Kelly by the shoulders and lifted her off. Things probably would have been okay if she’d been holding onto the towel. Instead, Chris got an eyeful before he squeezed his eyes shut.

“Sorry! So sorry.”

Kelly wasn’t prepared for the instant plank she needed to do to stay off of him, and her wet hands caused her to fall on him again. She now knew more about sounds that he made than she’d thought she’d ever know, given the moan that escaped him. Chris tilted his head back and kept his eyes shut.

“I’m sorry, Chris. This is all my fault.” She quickly rolled off him, onto the floor and they both stilled themselves. This time, it was nervous laughter that came from both.

It took a little bit of work, but Kelly was finally seated on her sofa, in her grey shorts and tank top, hair dripping. Chris had already taken care of changing her dressing (he was getting pretty good at it) and they were now surrounded by awkward silence.

“So, I don’t have that thing for you yet. It might be another couple of days.”

“I don’t know what it is, but you don’t need to get me anything. And you don’t need to keep coming over.”

“I kinda do. Look, no matter what you might say, I still feel responsible for you, for what happened. I want to check in on you, at least, until you’re not in so much pain, and you’re a bit more mobile. Plus, I did give Paul my word that I’d make sure you got better, and I’m kinda known for keeping my promises.”

It had been only a half-hearted attempt on her part to get him to stop. Truth was, he’d grown on her.

“I can’t be the one to make you break your word to Paul.”

And that was how he’d missed his first opportunity to clear the air.

It was a couple of days before she was fully mobile, so Chris had many opportunities to tell her since he saw her twice a day, but the timing never felt right. They’d gotten into a routine, with Chris coming over to check on her as he was getting ready to leave. One morning he had a cup of her coffee and he didn’t visit a Starbucks again, at least not before showing up to the studio.

Kelly was enjoying getting to know Chris. She never asked what he did, figuring if it was important to him then he’d mention it at some point.

The next time Chris tried to tell her was the day that Kelly found out that Donald Trump had announced that he was running for President. He’d made the announcement the previous week, but she’d been a bit preoccupied, what with the ukulele and interview and injury. By the time Chris got to her place she was so worked up that it felt as if several hours passed before he got a word in edgewise. When she finally allowed him to say something, he asked her why she was starting over when clearly she should be working on a campaign.

Kelly quickly changed the conversation, and Chris lost that opportunity.

It was the Saturday before she was to start her job when Chris decided to tell her that he’d be seeing her more frequently. She’d healed and was almost rid of the scabs and was getting around on her own rather well. They hadn’t had any mishaps like the bathtub and, while it was in the back of both of their minds, they hadn’t spoken of it so they both assumed the other had forgotten.

Kelly was out back, soaking up some sun and thinking of it as getting her daily dose of vitamin D, when she heard Chris. They chatted over the fence for a few minutes before he invited her out to lunch, wanting to try Victory Sandwich. She made him promise that she could have a burger for dinner and when he did, she agreed.

They had a great day. Lunch was good and they were on their way to see Inside Out, trying to beat the heat when they drove past a couple of antique stores and Kelly begged Chris to go to one. She always had fun, looking at some of the obscure stuff that would invariably be in one of the stores. They spent the day making up stories about the various objects they saw and genuinely having a blast.

By the time they got back, Kelly was pretty exhausted but had her heart set on that hamburger. If Chris had known how bad the night would go, he never would have suggested that he cook. He headed to the store while Kelly took a nap and he had all the food prepared by the time she’d showered and changed into her backless navy maxidress. She kicked off her espadrilles and dropped her clutch on his entry table and got comfortable on his couch with a glass of wine he’d handed to her.

It was still a little too hot to be outside, so they had their prosciutto and melon in his living room, taking their time until the sun set and the cooler night air settled over their little party. Chris had held off giving her something, and he knew he needed to so that he could tell her that he’d be seeing her Monday.

When he set the box in front of Kelly, she didn’t understand what he was doing. She read the note that he’d slipped under the ribbon.

 _Kelly,_  
_This should make up for the one last thing I owe you._  
_I’m torn. While I never wanted to cause you harm, if I had it to do all over again, I would play my ukulele into the wee hours of the morning and leave bouquets of flowers for you to trip over if it meant that I got to spend time with you._  
_Chris_

Her stomach felt about as stable as that vintage dashboard hula girl they'd found in one of the stores earlier that day by the time she finished the card. She had to divert the conversation from what he’d written. She didn’t know what to do with the war going on inside her.

“Awww, so you’d violate noise ordinances and inflict bodily harm in order to see me. How sweet.” Kelly was pleased when she heard his chuckle. “I don’t know what you could possibly think you owe me after everything you’ve done for me. You’ve more than made up for everything.”

“Open it.”

It was a business card. He’d found a personal shopper at a local boutique store who would help Kelly to replace the suit that had been ruined when she took her spill.

“This is too much. I can’t accept this.”

“Sure you can. All I’m doing is replacing what was lost.”

“But I’m not really going to be needing the suit anymore. They don’t require one where I’ll be working.”

“So, replace it with things that are more like what you’ll need.”

Kelly didn’t know what got into her. She leaned over, kissed Chris’s cheek, and then, startled, rushed out back.

Chris wanted to give Kelly a little bit of time to herself so he headed to the kitchen, grabbed a beer, and fixed the dressing for the salad. He grabbed the bottle of wine, his beer, and headed out back. He needed to fire up the grill and get their food cooking.

Kelly was quiet when he opened the door and watched him as he lit the flame and poured her some wine. She watched his movement, but couldn’t look him in the eye.

Chris didn’t like the awkward silence. The only other time it had been awkward between them was right after they’d fallen to the floor in the bathroom. Chris closed his eyes as he took a long pull from his beer, recalling that incident, as he’d done dozens of times since. He made a decision, and hoped he wouldn’t get slapped.

Setting his beer down, he approached Kelly from behind and placed the back of his index finger at her waist. He was encouraged when she didn’t pull away. He slowly ran his finger up her back, feeling her silky warm skin and she leaned into him. By the time he was at her shoulder, she’d tilted her head back, eyes closed.

He sank his fingers into her hair, hand strong, and pulled her to him as he turned her head. He was gentle with her, his lips brushing hers as the spark between them grew to an all- consuming flame. She followed, willingly, where he led.

Until she pushed him away, shoved at him was more like it. The look in her eyes was wild as she turned to him, fingertips on her lips.

“Sesame seeds?”

“What?”

“You had sesame seeds?” She grabbed at her throat.

“Oil, yeah.” She tried to rush past him and he caught her arm. “It’s in the dressing.”

“Let go! I’m allergic to sesame. I need my EpiPen!”

“Shit! Where is it?”

“Purse.”

Kelly was able to inject herself, but she still had to go to the emergency room to get checked out. Naturally, Chris drove her. He tried to take responsibility for what happened, but she wouldn’t let him.

“I figured we were just having burgers. It’s my responsibility; I should have told you.”

“First the fall, now this. It’s like I’m trying to kill you.”

At least she still had her sense of humor.

“Just imagine if you were actually trying to kill me. You’d probably be successful within seconds.”

And that was how Chris missed his last real opportunity to clear the air before Kelly started her new job on Monday.


	6. Chapter 6

Kelly was entirely too wired to get any sleep Saturday night. She had no lingering effects from the sesame mishap and, in truth, she was actually somewhat grateful for it. It had put a stop to what probably would have happened and, although she knew it would have been phenomenal,  _because of course it would have been, right?_ , she could only handle one new relationship at a time and work needed to be her priority. Besides, Chris was in town only temporarily, as was she (she’d end up temporarily relocating to where the productions were, so who knew where she’d be each year) and she didn’t like long-distance relationships. She’d never been able to get them to work. When she took the job she knew she was signing herself up for at least several years of singledom, and that was just fine by her.

Sunday was the first day that Chris hadn’t come over first thing in the morning, not that he didn’t try. He texted a couple of times and it was when he finally offered brunch that she responded. She turned him down, playing on her “suspicions” of him trying to "finish the job”. Lots of ‘LOLs’ and a ‘:P’ later, she told him she wanted to just chill for the day, try to take it easy before starting her new job, which was all true.

* * *

That’s exactly what she did, if by “chill” you mean obsess about what to wear that first day. She emptied her closet and thought about all her options, not liking any of them. She didn’t know how to dress casually for work, having spent most of her time in suits. That realization then had her going over the last job she’d held, and everything that had gone wrong and it was more than a little overwhelming, until there was a knock at her door. Kelly checked the time and saw that she’d spent almost the whole morning in her bedroom, contemplating what to wear-at least, that’s the lie she told herself.

She grabbed a t-shirt and put it on while heading to the door. Bright yellow daffodils greeted her and put a big smile on her face. She invited Chris in and headed to the kitchen to find something to put the beautiful flowers in. On the way, she was wracking her brain, trying to remember when they’d had a conversation about her favorite flower and coming up short.

Watching her bum peek out from under her t-shirt put a grin on Chris’s face and he followed her to the kitchen. He felt himself twitch when he saw her reach for a vase and her t-shirt rode up several inches before her lacy pink cheekies barely came into view. Her small kitchen was no match for his long strides and he was behind her in seconds.

“Look, Kelly, I um, about yesterday, well last night really-”

“Chris?”

“Yeah?”

“Would you do me a favor?”

He assumed she meant help her by grabbing the vase from the top shelf. One more step was all it took for him to reach over her and grab the clear glass jug she’d been trying to get.

“Here you go.”

“Thank you.”

“No problem. Now, last night I-”

“Chris, would you do me a favor?”

Kelly turned around and put one hand on his chest, something she’d wanted to do last night but never got the chance. The other went to his waist. She watched him struggle to swallow before speaking.

“Anything.”

“Would you shut up and kiss me?”

Because of Kelly’s allergy and scrambling for her EpiPen and the drive to the hospital, Chris’d had a hard time remembering their kiss the previous night. He’d remembered her skin-how soft and warm her back was-but not what she tasted like. He knew, this early in the day, she’d taste like the tobacco tinged coffee she favored. She’d probably be sweet, like rich coffee gelato, given how much sugar she added to her drink.

“Is that what you think I want… or is that what you want?”

“I think it’s what we both want.”

He searched her face. He didn’t want to pressure her into anything. The pad of his thumb found her bottom lip, and he felt the same rush of blood he’d felt the previous day.

Kelly tilted her head back, encouraging him. Chris didn’t take the bait.

“Do you not want this?”

“That’s not it.”

“Then, what’s stopping you?”

“I want to remember this kiss.”

“You don’t remember our first kiss?”

“I remember you shoving me away, I remember the mad dash for your EpiPen. I remember you joking about me trying to kill you.”

“I was only trying to lighten the mood.”

“Yeah, well…”

“What?”

“At one point I was scared I had.”

“It’s going to take a hell of a lot more than stupid sesame seeds to get rid of me.”

“Promise?”

Before she could answer, Chris bent to her, brushing his lips over her once, twice, three times before cradling her head in his hands, fingers spanning from her neck to her ears to her cheeks, and sealing his lips over hers.

Kelly grabbed his forearm and held on for dear life as her heart felt like a bird, flapping its wings and beating itself against its cage, trying to break free. She clenched him to her when she felt his tongue slide past her lips.

Chris slid one hand to the small of her back and his other arm wrapped around her shoulders, holding her close. He made note of every sigh, every moan, every whimper from Kelly. He felt shots of electricity coursing through him with each discovery: the way her knees buckled when his fingers ran over her ear, or the way her fingers dug into his side when he flicked the smooth, slick underside of her tongue.

It was Chris’s turn to sigh and shudder when Kelly tugged on his bottom lip, teeth scraping over his kiss-swollen flesh, when she wound her arms around his neck, keeping him close, and when her tongue slipped past his lips, bent on its own exploration.

They’d both thought about it, kissing, since very early on. Neither wanted to rush past this part. The experience was too intoxicating, too delicious to skip.

It lasted for longer than either of them would have expected it to. Chris let Kelly escape for only a few moments before his hand wrapped around the back of her neck, pulling her back into his embrace. She returned the favor when his lips traveled to her jaw. She languished in the sensations for only a moment before swiveling her head to catch his lips. They were both trembling when they finally broke apart.

Chris slowly peeked at her through half-lidded eyes, wanting to prolong the moment and preserve the intimacy for as long as possible.

He saw Kelly mouth ‘wow’ while she came back down to earth. He was glad she felt the same way. It took all self-control he had not to grab her and continue that kiss.

“How about, to make up for last night and celebrate your new job, I cook dinner tonight. Do you have any other allergies?”

“No, no other allergies, but I think I just want a quiet night. I need to try to get a good night’s sleep for my first day.”

“Early dinner? I’ll even promise to kick you out by 9?” Chris could see she was tempted, but didn’t push.

“What are you fixing?”

“You never got your burger last night. We’ll do that, grilled vegetables, and not a sesame seed in the place.”

“Oh, thank you, and it’s easy enough to avoid the oil.”

“I tossed that stuff.”

“You didn’t have to do that.”

“I wanted to. I don’t ever want that to happen again.” He ran the back of his index finger from her chin to her jaw, tucking an errant lock of hair behind her ear and confirming that he needed to keep touching Kelly’s ears, making her shiver. “What do you say? Come over at 6:30? We’ll eat at what, 7, 7:30? I’ll have you home by 9, promise.”

“Ah, you want to prove that you’re capable of feeding me without killing me. Sounds good.”

“Plus, it’ll give me a chance to walk you home after our date, see what it’s like to kiss you at your front door.”

“What, you think there’s going to be kissing?”

“I’m hoping. What can I do to increase my chances?”

“Good dinner’s a good start.”

“Okay, anything else?”

“How about no talk about my new job, or about tomorrow. I’m nervous enough as it is.”

“Can I at least wish you luck? Maybe some good luck ice cream?”

“No.”

“How about now? Will you let me wish you luck now?”

“I may as well say yes since you probably won’t let up until I do.”

“You know me so well.”

Chris took a step back, startling Kelly, before he extended his hand. When she took it, she felt the spark between them, the one that had been present only moments before during their kiss.

“Congratulations, Kelly. I know you’ll knock ‘em dead.”

“You think so?”

“I know so.”

* * *

Kelly didn’t have trouble falling asleep because of nerves about her first day of work. Rather, she was recalling and reliving every kiss she and Chris exchanged (it was a wonder that either of them ate anything at all) and looking very much forward to when she’d be able to kiss him once again. 


	7. Chapter 7

Kelly had no trouble making it to the studio for her first day of work. She made sure she was early – she wanted to show that the day of her interview was just a mistake. Besides, she needed to have a conversation with Paul about her previous job so he’d understand an odd request she had. She didn’t like bringing it up, but he made her feel like a part of the family when she did, and he was happy to accommodate it.

Now, for the conversation with HR.

There were a couple of things that they couldn’t compromise on-and really, no one else would have reason to see that stuff-but other than that, they understood, especially when she showed them the documentation.

Of course, most of the morning was all the paperwork: forms, taxes, insurance, orientation, etc. etc. etc. It was almost lunch by the time they had her back at Paul’s office.

He explained that there would be an evaluation period, but he didn’t know how long it would take. Because she had no experience with film production, they needed to assess her skills and determine what kind of a training program she would need. He reassured her that the expectation was that this would be temporary.

“Paul, I have no problem with this at all. In fact, I thought I was up for an assistant position. I’m surprised you hired me. Grateful, but surprised.”

“Well, I know your injuries affected your interview. You still handled yourself better than everyone else up for the position.”

Kelly wanted to joke a bit, try to take some of the tension out of the conversation.

“So, then I fooled you. Good to know.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m pretty sure I had enough adrenaline coursing through me to lift a small car. I was barely blocking out the pain during my interview.”

“You certainly didn’t show that you were in pain.”

“You should have seen me later in the day. I was an absolute mess. You know, if my next door neighbor hadn’t come along, I don’t know what I would have done.”

“Was this the one who was there when I called?”

“Yes. He’s the one who left the flowers, and he’s more than made up for his part. He’s really been very sweet to me. Even after he tried to kill me Saturday night.”

“I’m sorry, he did what?”

Kelly couldn’t help but laugh.

“Well, see, I’m highly allergic to sesame seeds, which I told HR about, and he, um, gave me some sesame seed oil. In his defense, he didn’t know.”

“You know, for someone who’s caused you some trouble, you’re defending him quite a bit.”

“Well, he did wake me very early the morning of my interview with you, but he stopped playing his ukulele once he knew I could hear it.”

“Ukulele?”

“I know, right? Then he tried to make up for it by giving me some flowers, which I tripped over. He took care of me, went to the store for me, he carried me around when I couldn’t walk. I mean, sure, I had to use my EpiPen, but he took me to the emergency room, didn’t complain once. He’s been pretty decent. And see, he fed me last night and I  _didn’t_  almost die, so bonus.”

Paul sat there for a moment before responding. “He sounds like a hazard to your health.”

They both had a hearty laugh at that one.

“No, not at all. When he gave me the flowers, I tripped over them because I wasn’t looking. In my defense, I wasn’t expecting anything so I didn’t have a reason to look. Had I been looking, I wouldn’t have tripped. I didn’t tell him about my allergy, so he didn’t know. He is a decent guy. The day with the sesame seeds? Earlier that day we went to some antique stores and he didn’t complain once; hell, I think he got into my rituals. He’s not a hazard, at least, not intentionally.”

Kelly couldn’t figure out why they were talking about Chris. Maybe Paul was just interested in all her mishaps?

“Sounds like you’ve been spending a lot of time with him.”

“I ha- wait a minute. This isn’t going to affect my work, you don’t have to worry about that. My plan is to move to LA when we’re done here. I know-”

“I wasn’t enquiring, but okay, good to know. How about we get the day going. Why don’t I show you around.”

They left his office and began to make the rounds, stopping first at a nearby desk.

“We’ve got a desk for you, so you can keep all your stuff in it. It’s where you’ll be working once we decide what we want you to concentrate on. I see you brought your lunch, and you can do that if you want, but it’ll probably go bad before you have a chance to get back to your desk to eat. We’re going to have you out on set as a PA, and it’s pretty much nothing but grunt work, running errands, fetching actors, running messages: whatever the coordinators need, you do. Craft services feeds everyone so you’ll eat with the crew. You probably won’t have time to come back here to eat and then get back to the set with everything that you’ll be doing. We’ll make sure they know about your allergy.”

“That seems like a lot of trouble for just one person.”

“Don’t worry, you aren’t the only one with dietary restrictions. You ready to head out, Alex?”

Paul’s use of her name startled her.

“Um, if you could-”

“Geez, sorry, Kelly. I need to do a better job of remembering that. Let me try it again. You ready to head out, Kelly?”

“Yep. Lead the way.”

Paul showed Kelly the offices, introduced her to a couple of the folks before they headed out. When they got to the soundstage, Kelly took out her pocket notebook and pen and was ready to start learning. Paul knew he’d made the right call in hiring her.

He introduced her around, looking for and finally finding the lead coordinator and introduced her to Mike.

“I’ll leave you in Mike’s very capable hands.”

“Thank you, Paul. I really appreciate everything.” They shook hands and she turned back to a toe-tapping Mike. He wasn’t looking at her, but rather at tablet he was carrying.

“So what can you do?”

“Excuse me?”

He finally looked up and all but rolled his eyes.

“Don’t even tell me they hired just another pretty face. What can you do? What did you do on your last job?”

“I haven’t worked in production before.”

“Please tell me you’re not some ditz.”

After Paul, she hadn’t been prepared for someone assuming she’d been hired just because of her looks. She needed to shut his attitude down, but in the nicest possible way. She couldn’t afford to alienate her new boss.

“My last job: my official title was office manager, but I was really the deputy campaign manager for Senator Hazel Abbot.”

“For Senator… seriously?”

“Yes. Now, I’d appreciate it if you’d keep that to yourself, if you could. I don’t want people to get distracted by that. I really just want to learn this industry and this job.”

“But, you should be in D.C., with the Senator, why aren’t you?”

Kelly lowered her voice; she didn’t want anyone to overhear their conversation.

“Please don’t tell anyone about this. I mostly get asked this question, and sometimes follow-ons. She offered me a position, I turned it down. I was in law school and decided I didn’t want to be a lawyer and dropped out and through friends of friends from school, I got this job. Sure, I’m not strictly qualified, but I have a feeling most of what I did for the Senator will translate to this job pretty quickly.”

“Okay, I didn’t mean to pry.”

“Sorry, I hope I didn’t come across as a bitch. I just want to forget that that part of me ever existed. I think it’d be easier if we just focus on the stuff here, rather than anything in my past.”

“No, I get it. I know I came across a little strong.”

Kelly visibly relaxed and then smiled at Mike.

“Just a little?”

“Okay, okay, you got me.” She was relieved that he seemed to be cool with her explanation. “Now, I need you to be honest with me. It’s been hard to find people who can do the job and not go gaga over the talent. You don’t do that, do you?”

“No. I tend to go gaga over people like Malala. These guys? I couldn’t pick ‘em out of a line up.”

“What, you haven’t seen the movies?”

“Dude, I’ve had no social life for like the past six years. School, a campaign, law school, the campaign, law school, trying to find a job. I’ve had no time.”

“Remind me to get you a copy of all the movies. You’ll need to understand what’s going on.”

“Sounds like I’ve got homework.”

“I’ll say. 11 movies. We should probably include the TV. Oh, and you’re going to want Netflix, for Daredevil.”

“Why do I need all this?”

“When people find out where you work, they start asking all sorts of questions. This way, you understand if they try to get anything out of you versus just being a fan.”

“Dude, PR loved me but the press hated me. I never let anything slip and I was always on message.”

“And you probably knew what was going on, too.”

“Ah, now I get your point. Okay.”

“How about we introduce you to some of these guys. You’ll be spending time fetching them, they may as well get to know your face. Hey, Mackie, come here. I want you to meet the new gal. You, too, Evans.”

Mike introduced her to Mackie.

“Welcome, we’re always glad to have another woman around here. Too many men, if you ask me.”

“Well, thank you. Hopefully I don’t cause too much chaos as I learn the ropes. You’ll tell me if I make a mistake, right?”

“Of course. What were you doing before this?”

Kelly glanced at Mike as she answered his question.

“I dropped out of law school.”

“Why would you want to be a lawyer? Don’t you want to have fun?”

“As a matter of fact, yes, I do.”

“Hey, Evans, get over here. We’ve got a new boss. I don’t want you scaring this one off, either. I like her.”

Kelly turned to Mike.

“What, is this Evans that much of a diva?”

“No, not even close. He’s pretty much the opposite of a diva, but I gotta give him a hard time about  _something_. Dude’s from Boston. Hey, Chris, I want you to meet Kelly.”

Mackie stepped out of the way and the first thing she saw was the uniform and  _good God but his shoulders_. Kelly realized that both of these men saw her the day of her interview.

Chris saw the instant she recognized him and realized he’d made a big, huge, colossal mistake in not telling her.

“What are you doing here?” The set of her jaw, the lack of volume: he could tell she was pissed.

“I work here, same as you.”

“You two know each other?” A confused Mike glanced between the two of them.

“Yes,” Chris offered quickly.

“I thought we did,” Kelly corrected.

Chris didn’t like Kelly’s answer, and didn’t want things to escalate. He needed time to explain but first, he had to get to the set.

“Can you give us a sec, Mike?” Chris led Kelly a couple feet away and lowered his voice. “Look, I know I should have told you earlier, but-”

“Damn straight you should have.”

“Can we talk about this?”

“What, now? I’m not even on the job for a day and I’m probably going to get fired. I have a job to do.”

Kelly pivoted on her heel to walk back over to where Mike was, but Chris stopped her with a hand on her shoulder before she could take a step.

“Come on, give me a chance to explain. Tonight? Dinner?”

“Why should I?”

“Because you want to give me a chance.”

Kelly hadn’t turned to him, but it didn’t take eyes on him to know he was hopeful, possibly even remorseful. She knew she shouldn’t, but her parents raised her better than that.

“Leave me alone for the rest of the day. Let me start to learn my job, and you do your job, and I’ll  _think_  about it.”

Chris held his smile until after he turned to walk away. Kelly hurried back to Mike and opened her mouth to explain, but Mike jumped in.

“You know, they really frown on relationships with those guys.”

“Even something that starts before you’re an employee? I’m not trying to cause trouble, I just want to understand, that’s all.”

“I’m going to have to tell Paul about this.”

“That’s fine, you do… the… right thing. I have a feeling Paul already knows about this. Look, if we’re going to work together, we need to clear the air, and as soon as possible. I owe him that much, I think. Besides, he’s persistent-”

“Trust me, I know. He’s a charmer, that one is. Protect yourself, okay?”

“Oh, I plan on it. Now, back to work. Where do you need the most help?”


	8. Chapter 8

The rest of Kelly’s work day went fairly well.

Mike finished giving her a quick tour and started her on some things he’d needed to get done, but just hadn’t had the time. After giving her only a few parameters, she finished up the assignment and found him again. He checked her work, looked at her, and finished his review, not able to keep the smile off his face. That was pretty much how the first couple of hours, until Ella, one of the other PAs, got sick and had to go home. Kelly picked up some of her work which consisted mainly of walking from one place to the other: running errands, getting people, passing stuff out. There was lots of standing around, waiting for people to give her something to do. Things tended to happen in clusters: four or five people needing something at the same time, and then there’d be a lull. When she’d finished her first couple of hours of that, she knew she had to do more or she’d go crazy. Mike happened to walk by a few minutes after she’d come to that conclusion.

“Hey, Mike, what else can I do while I’m standing here?”

“You want more?”

“It’s not a matter of want. If I don’t do more, I’ll probably run screaming for the hills.”

Mike had been impressed with what she’d shown him thus far so he decided to see what she could accomplish.

“We are going to be in Germany in several weeks and we need to get transportation finalized. I got half-way done but something else came up and I just can’t get back to it. I’m going to give you all the logistics and research I need you to get it figured out.” It wasn’t entirely true. He’d had it finished several weeks ago with only needing a few things. He just wanted to see what she could do.

“What’s the budget?”

When Mike smiled, Kelly knew she’d asked the right question first.

“That’ll be in the package I give you.”

“Do you have standards for people traveling together, like, no more than x can travel on the same plane, is there anyone prohibited from traveling together, that kind of stuff?”

Kelly couldn’t help smiling back at the grin on Mike’s face.

“What’s that for?”

“You just became my favorite person. I’ll make sure you have everything you need, but if you have questions after you read everything, let me know.”

“What’s my deadline?”

“Will you marry me?”

“You’re funny.”

“No, seriously, I think you’re my dream woman. You ask about budgets and deadlines. I bet you’re smart, too. I gotta know, ‘cause it’s been gnawing at me…”

“Yeah?”

“Where did you go to law school?”

“Stanford.” Kelly was so used to answering the question that her response was automatic, before she could censor herself.

“Why did you drop out?”

“I’d really rather not go into it if you don’t mind.”

“Didn’t mean to pry. Do you mind saying where you went to undergrad?”

“Not at all. Notre Dame.”

“Ah. Over-achiever, are you?”

“Damn, I’ve been found out.”

Kelly liked Michael. It felt good to laugh with someone she was working for.

“Come to me with whatever you have by the end of the day on Thursday. We’re off Friday for the holiday. That doesn’t mean be done by Thursday, you do have other stuff you have to do. I just want to see where you are by then.”

“Okay, that works.”

“Let me go get the stuff for you. Oh, and incoming.”

“What?”

“Chris is coming over.”

Kelly had calmed during her workday. While she’d been standing around doing nothing, she’d been able to think of her situation, and even did what she could to put herself in Chris’s shoes. He’d never lied to her, and she hadn’t asked him about his work. In fact, she’d declared talking about work to be off limits on several occasions. She was willing to maybe give him the benefit of the doubt, but she didn’t want to have any part of that conversation at work.

“Can you do me a favor and stay?”

He nodded right as Chris spoke up.

“Hey, Kelly, do you have a moment?”

“What can I do for you?”

Chris glanced at Michael, taking a few seconds before answering.

“Can we maybe talk in private?”

“With it being my first day on the job, I’m trying to make a good impression on my new boss. So, unless this is work related…”

“Um, well, I really want to talk, clear the air. Can you come over for dinner tonight? Please?”

“Kelly, I hate to interrupt, but a bunch of us were talking, and we were hoping to take you out for drinks. You know, welcome you to the team.”

“Really? That’s sweet of you.”

“We were going to surprise you, but if you’ve got plans…”

Kelly turned to Chris.

“I don’t want to disappoint everyone if they were making time for me.”

“No, of course you don’t.”

She turned back, relieved that she had an out. She didn’t know if she was ready to talk to Chris.

“I’d love that, Michael. Thank you.”

>< 

The gathering had seemed awkward at first, and Kelly figured out why, confronting Michael. He confirmed that they really hadn’t thought of taking her out for drinks, but he had wanted to give Kelly an out when she was so obviously trying to avoid Chris.

It had been a decent enough gathering and she was getting to know the group. They were obviously tight-knit and had been working together for a while. She wondered if she’d ever fit in.

Kelly headed to the bar, declining the offers of several people to go for her. It was taking them forever to get table service.

“Jack and Coke, please. Thank you.”

“Well aren’t you gorgeous.”

“Thank you.” Kelly didn’t want to be rude so she gave him a cursory nod. She’d noticed the guy staring at her. In her experience, it was just easier to acknowledge whatever they said and get away as quickly as possible. The problem was, the bartender decided to fix drinks for everyone at the same time.

“I haven’t seen you in here before.”

“First time.”

“Well then let me buy you a drink.”

“No, thank you anyway.”

“Aw, come on, let me buy you a drink.”

“My drink’s already paid for, thanks.”

She shifted away from him, wanting distance. She was getting a bad vibe.

“Stay here, talk to me.”

“It would be rude for me to leave the people I came here with, so I’ll decline your very generous offer and leave it at that.”

“Why won’t you have a drink with me? What, you think I’m ugly?”

“Your looks have nothing to do with it. I’m here with a bunch of friends and they’re expecting me back.”

“Stay and have a drink with me.”

“No, like I said before, I need to get back to my friends.”

“What, you have a boyfriend? He get jealous?”

“Whether or not I have a boyfriend is irrelevant. I’m declining your offer.”

“Bitch.”

The people around them got quiet, listening in as the exchange grew heated. It took Kelly some time to figure out if she should say anything.

“I’m leaving now. Goodbye.”

“No, you’re going to stay here and have a drink.”

Kelly tried to leave, but the jerk grabbed her wrist.

“Let go of me!”

“Bitch! You too good for me or something?”

“Get your hands off my girlfriend!”

Most of the bar went quiet as the bellowing voice faded. A surprised Kelly turned and saw Chris.

“Dude! She was coming on to me! You should keep a shorter leash on her.”

“I seriously doubt she was. When I want relationship advice from you, I’ll ask for it.”

Finally freed from the man, and not wanting to cause any more of a scene than she already had, Kelly tossed a $20 on the bar and walked off without her drink. Chris put his arm around her shoulder and led her away. When they got back to the table, Kelly grabbed her purse from the chair and bid everyone goodnight. Before anyone could say anything, she was out the door. Once outside, she didn’t know which way to go, so she turned left and started walking.

“Kelly, hold up.” Chris was at her side within a couple of seconds. “My car’s the other way.”

“If you think I’m getting in a car with you now, you’re crazy.”

That stopped Chris in his tracks.

“Why the hell are you angry at me? I just helped you get away from that asshole!”

“Yeah, by telling him that I’m  _yours_. I’m not your fucking property. All you did was reinforce to that ass that if I’m with a man, I’m off limits, and if I’m not, then I belong to anyone who wants to claim me, that he had a right to touch me. Don’t you ever do that again.”

“What would you have me do?”

“How about telling him ‘what part of I’m not interested don’t you understand’ or ‘the lady told you no, and no means no’. Simple enough for you?”

“All I was trying to do was help.”

“And all you did was reinforce the notion that women are property.”

“I’m really sorry, Kelly. I’d never thought of it that way, Kelly. Do you want me to go back in and fix it?”

“What, you gonna punch him out or something?”

“You know, I kinda like that idea.”

“You are such a guy.”

“There’s only one problem, though.”

“Yeah? What’s that?”

“I know movie fighting, not real life fighting. Too bad Grillo isn’t here. Now, he’s a boxer, he knows how to throw a punch.”

“Then maybe I need to cozy up to him.”

“Only one problem with that. Guy’s married.”

“Oh my God, I was only joking!”

He couldn’t understand why she was so adamant.

“I know, Kel, it’s okay. I know you were only joking.”

“But Chris-”

“Kelly, stop. I know you’re not that kind of person.”

She took a few moments to collect herself. She knew that if she went any further she’d have to explain, and that was something she couldn’t do.

“Thank you, you don’t know how much that means to me. Now I’m the one who’s sorry. I shouldn’t have jumped down your throat. You were just trying to help. Sorry, this is just a touchy subject for me, and it’s been a long day and I want to go home.”

“Where’s your car?”

“Back at the studio, but I shouldn’t drive, I’ve been drinking.”

“What time do you have to be there tomorrow?”

“My call time? 6.”

“Good job, picking up the lingo. Look, we’re close to home. Why don’t I take you. If you don’t mind getting in half an hour early, I can take you in tomorrow morning.”

“I guess half an hour tomorrow morning is better than me waiting several hours to sober up to drive. Thanks. That’d be good.”

“I bet you haven’t eaten. Can I convince you to come over for dinner?”

“I’m tired. Can we do it some other time?”

Kelly couldn’t look at him. She knew she’d give in if she saw the disappointment on his face.

“Are you going to keep avoiding me?”

Kelly’s silence was his answer.

“Look, I don’t want it to be awkward at work tomorrow, not like it was today. Please?”

Kelly swore to herself. He didn’t just have puppy dog eyes down, he had puppy dog voice down, too.

“I guess. Can we at least wait to talk until we’re home?”

“Whatever you want, Kelly.”

Kelly knew that wasn’t true, because if it were, she’d be in D.C.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reposting/Downloading:  
> Please do not repost or make these works available for downloading on any other site.


	9. Chapter 9

They rode in silence. Kelly needed it to calm down. While she said she’d understood and forgiven Chris, she really hadn’t. She’d just wanted to get him to stop talking. Why was it always her job to educate guys? Why couldn’t they just know when they were wrong? She was so tired of having to explain things.

Chris needed the silence to prepare what he was going to say. It wasn’t that he didn’t know what he wanted to say, he just needed to say it the right way. He had an awful habit of putting his foot in his mouth around Kelly, or worse, doing something that he shouldn’t, and he wanted them to get past this.

He was really glad he’d gone with his gut and crashed the ‘get to know Kelly’ gathering. He’d never heard of the team doing this for any of the other new recruits, so he wondered what was going on. He suspected that Michael had a couple of reasons for organizing it. One, that he was trying to give Kelly an out for dinner with him. Given her reluctance both earlier, at the studio, and just now, he thought it a real possibility. The second reason, though, was more troubling.

It looked like Michael had developed a crush on Kelly.

Chris had been at the pub for a while, at another table off in the corner, and watched them. Michael hung on her every word and laughed the loudest and longest, and he was touching her, always touching her. Handing her a glass of water so their fingers would touch, or putting his hand on her shoulder or arm to get her attention. Everyone else saw it, too. Chris saw the glances when they weren’t looking; he knew what people were thinking.

He couldn’t blame the guy, but he didn’t like it. Not one bit. Maybe that was why he’d been so quick to declare her his girlfriend. Not that she was, but it was what he wanted. That, and the guy at the bar was being an ass and wasn’t about to let her go, no matter how loud her protests. He’d seen the look in the guy’s eyes. Chris understood Kelly’s viewpoint, but what she didn’t understand was that guy wasn’t about to let her out of his grips for any other reason than she was in a relationship with someone else. Chris hated it. He didn’t like how enough men thought like that, more so behind women’s backs, and gave all men a bad name. A woman putting up a stink over being manhandled in a bar wasn’t about to educate that guy at that time, or at any other for that matter, regardless of how smart she was.

And boy, was she smart. And pretty, and funny, and adventurous, and sexy, and a great kisser. And she wasn’t afraid to call him on his crap. He knew theirs wasn’t an ideal situation, but he wanted to spend as much time with Kelly as he could while they were in the same town together. He hoped that she’d be open to continue seeing him once they were apart, assuming, of course, that things went well.

When they got back, Kelly decided to change before heading over to Chris’s. She didn’t know how long the conversation was going to be and she wanted something more comfortable to wear.

By the time she knocked on Chris’s door, he was serving dinner. Kelly took a long look at the plate in front of her, chicken and rice and vegetables, and glanced back at Chris.

“Do you have a secret time machine I don’t know about?”

He handed her a glass of wine as he chuckled.

“No. Confession time. I knew I was going to be seeing you today, and I knew you probably weren’t going to be happy with me, so I thought I’d invite you back to dinner, see if we could talk.”

“Mmm.” While she liked that he’d planned ahead, she still wasn’t all that happy with him.

“What’s wrong?”

“Do you mind if we eat first and then talk?”

Kelly still didn’t feel quite sober enough to have this conversation. Or maybe it was that she was too sober.

“If that’s what you want, that’s good.”

Chris really wanted to ask her how her day was, if she had any impressions about any of the people she was working with, if she was at least not regretting her decision to work there.

Instead, they ate in silence.

When they were finally on the couch, with Kelly at one end and Chris - not wanting any distance between them at all but understanding her need for space - seated in the middle, he waited for her to start. He thought maybe she was trying to figure out what to say when she didn’t start. A few minutes went by before he began to wonder.

“Well, aren’t you going to go off on me?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Why not?”

“Don’t get me wrong, I was ready to when I saw you there, but that would have meant that I was assuming things, and I’m trying to do better about not doing that. I’d rather you tell me your side, help me understand.”

This was not what he’d been expecting, at all.

“Seriously?”

“Yeah. I can’t promise that I don’t already have thoughts floating around in my head about why you did it, but I want to hear your side first.”

“Okay, well, when I saw you when you were being shown around during your interview, I knew you looked familiar. And I thought it couldn’t be you, that would just be way too much of a coincidence. I asked Paul, and he told me what happened and I realized that it was you and then it hit me that not only had I woken you the night before your interview, but I’d also caused your injuries. I’d never felt so bad in my life. I was just trying to apologize to my gorgeous next door neighbor, and I hurt you. I told Paul it was my fault. I told him he should hire you and-”

“Wait a minute! Did I get my job because of you?” Kelly was ready to bolt out the door.

“No! God, here I go again, sticking my foot in it. You were already at the top of their list. Nothing I said had any bearing on you getting the job.”

Although still on high alert, Kelly was no longer ready to sprint for the door. “Why did you tell him he should hire me? You didn’t know me.”

“I didn’t want to be the reason you didn’t get the job.”

“Okay. Sorry.” Chris waited. He could tell she had more to say. “I just don’t like things being handed to me. I want to earn them.”

“You earned this one. Anyway, I was planning on telling you that I’d seen you at your interview when I got home, but I read your note, and decided it would probably be best to leave you alone.”

Kelly took several sips of wine, cringing at the memory of what she’d written.

“That has to be one of the rudest things I’ve ever done, call someone a bad penny.”

“I’ve been called worse.”

She side-eyed him before openly scrutinizing him.

“Why? What don’t I know about you?”

“Not all of my breakups have been good. Have all of yours been good?”

She ducked her head, cheeks burning brightly.

“Point taken. But seriously, I’m really sorry I did that.”

“I don’t hold it against you.”

“Thanks.”

“So, I was going to leave you alone, at least for a little while, but then I saw you outside and you were not in any kinda shape to go anywhere. And you let me help you. When you called me Michael when I got back? It dawned on me that you really didn’t know who I was. You have no idea how happy that made me.”

“Hunh, I hadn’t thought of that. Bet you’ve had some interesting encounters.”

“You have no idea.”

As he took a pull from his beer, Kelly could have sworn that he shuddered. She wasn’t about to clue him in to the fact that she probably did have a good idea.

“Anyway, you let me help you, and we got to know each other. If I hadn’t so spectacularly pulled you down on top of me when I fell getting you out of the tub, I would have told you. Each time I worked up my courage to tell you, well, something got in the way. Like Donald Trump-”

“I told you! Do not say that man’s name!”

“Sorry, sorry, I’ll do better next time.” He thought better of saying that man’s name again just to get a rise out of her. Now wasn’t the time to play like that. “Or the sesame seeds.”

“That was my fault.”

“Yeah, but if I hadn’t kissed you, you never-”

“I would’ve eaten the salad. I don’t know about you, but I’d rather be taken out by a kiss than a piece of lettuce.”

Chris was happy to see that she smiled for the first time that night. He couldn’t help but chuckle as she continued.

“And then last night I declared work off limits.”

“Yeah. I wanted to tell you. But, at the same time, I really liked being able to be me, just me, with you. I liked that I didn’t have to wonder why you were hanging around-”

“Now wait a minute,  _you_  were the one who kept stopping by.”

“I know, I know. But I didn’t have to wonder if you were letting me because of what I do, or who I am. I was just Chris from next door.”

He didn’t like that she wouldn’t look at him.

“I get it, I do.”

“So what’s wrong?”

“What do you mean?”

“Something’s wrong.”

Kelly hesitated before answering him. “This changes things.”

“I don’t understand. Why?”

Her sigh spoke volumes. “Because, you’re not Chris from next door anymore.”

“I’m still Chris. I’m still next door.”

Kelly shoved at his leg as she responded. Chris considered her soft smile a big victory.

“You know what I mean.”

“No, I don’t actually.” He reached out and took her hand in his. He saw her relax at his touch and couldn’t help his smile. He tugged on her hand as he turned to her, wanting her closer, but she didn’t budge so he moved closer. When she finally looked at him he smiled. He couldn’t help but reach up and caress her face. “Enlighten me.”

Kelly wanted to retain control, but Chris wasn’t making it easy for her. She was imagining his hand all sorts of places besides her cheek.

“No fair.”

“Completely fair.”

Chris’s smirk was going to be the death of her.

“You’re trying to distract me.”

“Am I?” Moving his thumb to her lips, he saw her tremble at his touch. “Am I distracting you?”

She could no longer trust her own voice. All she could do was nod.

“Good.”

They didn’t continue their conversation for a while. Their lips and tongues were too busy doing other things.


	10. Chapter 10

Chris was a happy man. Granted, he wouldn’t be by lunchtime, but for now he was.

Kelly, cranky-in-the-morning-without-her-coffee-Kelly, was snuggled into his side, desperate for as many minutes of shuteye as she could get while they headed in. She was clutching at the thermos mug of coffee in her hand, much like a child with a stuffed animal, as Chris sipped his.

The previous night they did eventually talk again, although it was interspersed with long periods of being preoccupied with each other. They agreed to stay professional at work, not to let anything get in the way of either of them doing their job, Kelly was adamant about that. She also insisted that they talk to Paul, make sure that there were no issues since the two of them had something going on.

Chris didn’t tell her what he’d seen in Michael. He didn’t want to make anything harder for her than it needed to be. Besides, now that they were seeing each other, even if it was still them just getting to know each other, he couldn’t imagine Michael making a move.

They got to the gate and were ushered in. His driver parked in his marked spot.

Kelly yawned and sighed and stretched when Chris woke her. He checked his watch: he still had a few minutes.

“So, what do you have on tap for today?”

“I need to take care of logistics for Germany. Michael says he’s gone only so far, but I think he’s testing me. I cannot even begin to imagine that that wouldn’t already be wrapped up. I would’ve had that all wrapped up before production even started. I’ve got some other, smaller projects, too.” A huge yawn took over and it took everything in her not to curl up into Chris’s side and ask for five more minutes. She stretched again, shaking her head and trying to wake up. “What about you?”

“I’ve got some fight sequences to finish up with.” Kelly’s yawns were entirely too contagious. He closed his eyes, yawned, and thoughts of his bed took over until he opened his eyes. “My agent sent a couple of scripts over, one looks promising. Reading, fighting, reciting some lines, that’s my day.”

“I should have become an actor.”

“What kind of movies would you want to do?”

“This kind looks like it could be some fun.”

“Really? What would your superpower be?”

She thought for a moment before she began chuckling.

“That anything I ever said would be instantly believed by everyone.” The confused look on Chris’s face made her elaborate. “Super Spin Doctor. What, you don’t think I could be a superhero?”

“I think you’d make an awesome superhero.”

Kelly couldn’t resist poking him in the chest as she responded. “You are not a very good liar.”

She could see that she’d hurt him, if only a little.

“I am an awesome liar.”

“No, you’re an awesome actor. There’s a difference.”

“What have you seen that I’ve been in?”

“I don’t know, what have you been in?”

“But you just said I’m an awesome actor, how do you know that?”

She couldn’t help her smug attitude. “See who’s the good liar now?”

Chris’s laughter was cut short. “Wait, you don’t think I’m a good actor?”

“I can’t do mental gymnastics this early. My brain isn’t awake yet, don’t hold anything I say against me. What have you been in?”

“Lots. You should look me up on IMDB.”

“I’ll do that.” She stretched and finally sat up, opening her eyes all the way and feeling like she was semi-human. “We should get going.”

“Hold on, I’m not done. What are you doing this weekend?”

“I have homework, or I should by this weekend. Michael’s getting all the movies for me to watch since I haven’t seen any of them. I figured I’d power through them.”

That opened Chris’s eyes. “All of them?”

“I’ll start start with the movies.”

“What, they’re gonna make you watch the TV, too?”

“Michael said it would be a good idea.”

“Well, then how about I come over, watch ‘em with you?”

“Haven’t you seen them already?”

“Yeah, but I could help you. You know, how the movies all weave together, I can clue you in to some of that stuff. Besides, it’ll be the only way I get to see you this weekend if that’s all you’re doing. So, can I?”

“Um, sure, if that’s what you want. You should probably get out now. Don’t want you to be late.”

“Yes ma’am.” He hopped out of the car and turned, saluting her.

She giggled as she got out and stretched her legs.

“What’s so funny?”

“You looked awfully cute. I thought, it was nice to have Cap salute me, and then I wondered what you’d look like in uniform saluting me.”

“Is that something you’d want to see?”

“Maybe. Wait, I’ll get that in the movies though, right?”

“I might be able to make that happen live and in person.” He liked the grin that put on her face. “Look, I know we agreed nothing here while we’re working, but we’re not working yet.”

“I don’t know…”

“How about now?”

He opened the back door, thinking they’d be shielded from anyone who might have been looking in their direction. And they were, well, partly shielded, anyway.

“Maybe if our schedules align, we could eat together? Let me know?”

“I’d like that. Come here.” He beckoned her over and she couldn’t resist. She knew she was in trouble with him. He made it entirely too easy to want to sneak behind doors, or buildings, just to get a quick kiss.

There was one problem with that train of thought, though. Kissing Chris was never quick. In fact, he liked to take his sweet time, holding Kelly close as he encouraged her to wrap her arms around him. She always marveled at the softness of his lips, even, like now, when his kisses were urgent, letting her know he wanted much more than she was allowing. She liked that she disappointed him when she pulled away faster than he wanted.

“Come on, Kel, one more.” He tugged at her waist as she backed up.

“No. I won’t have it be said that you’re late getting to makeup because of me.”

“Fine.”

“Oh, stop pouting. We’ll see each other tonight.”

“Promise?”

“It’s my turn to cook, remember?”

“Are you actually cooking, or is it going to be take out?”

“You are just going to have to wait and see. Give me a call when you go to lunch?”

“Okay. Have a good one.”

She blew him a kiss as she backed up to the door. She opened it and almost walked right into Michael.

“Sheesh! Goodness, you startled me.” Kelly looked at the door as it closed and realized that Michael had a decent view of Chris’s car.

“Did I just see you come in with Chris? I thought you were trying to avoid him.”

“Not anymore. We worked everything out last night, so, we’re good. Oh, and by the way, thank you so much for last night. It was really sweet of you, organizing that get together. I’m just sorry I had to duck out of there so quickly.”

“Why did you go?”

“There was a guy at the bar hassling me.”

“You should have told me, I would have taken care of it.”

“I took care of it. Chris helped, too. But thanks.”

She turned to head to her desk and was stopped by Michael grabbing her arm.

“You know, I talked to Paul about this yesterday and like I thought, he wasn’t pleased. You know, about you and Chris. You probably want to cool it, especially now, while you’re still new and all.”

“Why, what did he say?”

“I’d rather not go into it.”

That surprised Kelly. What wasn’t he telling her?

“This was about me, Michael. What aren’t you saying?”

“He wasn’t pleased.”

“You said that already. What did he say?”

“Just that he wasn’t pleased. He was surprised that you were seeing Chris.”

Kelly’s grew immediately suspicious, especially when Michael wouldn’t look at her. Paul had spoken to Chris on the phone when he offered her the job, he knew about the flowers and the accident, she’d talked about him and the fact they were seeing each other before she knew that Chris worked here. How much of a surprise could it have been? Maybe he was covering? She felt like she needed to get to the bottom of it all.

“Do you know when he gets in?”

“I told you, I already talked to him.”

“That wasn’t my question. Do you know when he gets in?”

“Why?”

“I need to talk to him about this.”

“What part of I already talked to him don’t you understand?”

Kelly narrowed her eyes as she took a step back, away from Michael. She’d tried, really she had. She hadn’t wanted to force the situation, but Michael wasn’t giving her any choice.

“What part of this is _my_ life don’t you understand?”

When she saw the look on Michael’s face, Kelly had a flashback to when she’d been in D.C. after the campaign. She’d seen that look on someone else’s face. Her blood ran cold.

“He won’t be in for a couple of hours. But seriously, you should just-”

“I appreciate your input, I’ll take it from here.”

She spun on her heel and walked quickly to her desk. She put her purse away and took the tablet out of the desk.

“You know, you don’t want this to get back to HR.”

She hadn’t heard him follow her and almost screamed as the tablet tumbled to the table. As she got herself under control, she realized that her relationship pre-dated her work. She hadn’t yet read the handbook they’d given to her, but she had skimmed it. She didn’t recall any headings that had anything to do with fraternization. She realized it would be best to go to HR and understand what she might be up against.

“Actually, that’s not a bad idea, I should include them in on the conversation. Thanks for reminding me about that.”

All Kelly’s senses went into overdrive when she heard him try to dissuade her.

“Well, it might be safer if I answer your questions.”

“I’d rather have official answers to my questions.”

“But I might have information for you.”

Everything was telling her to get away from Michael.

“Thanks, but, I’ll stick with HR.”

“But-”

“Michael, I am going to talk to HR and I’m going to talk to Paul. I appreciate what you did, but I can take care of myself.”

“I just think-”

“You know what? I don’t want you to think I don’t appreciate the help, but I can take care of myself. It is my relationship, after all.”

Michael almost said something and then thought better of it. Or maybe he didn’t.

“I’m surprised you’re in a relationship with him. I didn’t think you’d go for a guy like that.”

“A guy like- you know what? Never mind. I really should get to work, don’t you think? I’ll see you later.”

Kelly grabbed her tablet and did what she could to shake off the nagging feeling before she made her way to the makeup and wardrobe areas, ready to start her day.

* * *

 

As she waited for everyone to get ready, Kelly worked on the project Michael had given her.

She’d come up with her own budget. She also put together a plan for having a first pass completed by the end of the week. She knew she’d be able to take advantage of some of the downtime that she had during the day, and she could always make calls early so she could catch people while they were still in the office and she was at home.

She took a look at what he had and saw several places where some improvements could be made. She contacted some new companies, some that weren’t so established and were hungry to make a name for themselves, gave the requirements and the budget, and then told them she wanted a preliminary bid by the end of the following day. A couple of them balked, and she knew to mentally cross them off the list, but the others were happy for the opportunity. She always liked to include companies that were hungry to make a name for themselves: sometimes you could get far more bang for your buck that way.

She reviewed everything else that Michael had handed over, made some notes, and then checked the time. She had only a few minutes before she needed to start escorting people to where they needed to be. She wrapped everything up and started chatting with Mackie when he came into view. She knew it was going to be a good day.

* * *

 

Several hours later she was finishing up responding to a request for additional information from one of the vendors when her phone buzzed at her: Chris was heading to lunch in half an hour and wanted to know if she’d join him. She was pleased to be able to respond with a yes.

* * *

 

Chris caught up with Kelly as she was following the crowd to lunch.

“When is Paul going to see us?”

She fell into step by his side as he slung his arm around her shoulders.

“Us?”

“Yeah, I’m gonna go with you.”

“You don’t need to do that. That wasn’t why I told you about it.”

“But I want to. This could affect me, too.”

Kelly opened her mouth to rebut his argument and promptly shut her mouth. She pulled them off to the side, out of the flow of people walking to lunch.

“I am so sorry. I completely forgot I wasn’t the only one affected.”

“No worries. When’s your meeting?”

“Quarter ‘til, so, what, in a half hour, 40 minutes? Do you have to be somewhere?”

“Yep. Paul’s office.”

He gave her a quick kiss and they headed in to grab lunch.

A few minutes later they were seated and he was introducing her to some of the people eating with them when he got a call. He excused himself and the introductions continued before everyone started their normal lunchtime banter.

It was about ten minutes later and they were all attentively listening to Mackie tell one of his stories when Kelly felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up to see Michael standing there. He didn’t look pleased.

“What are you doing here?”

“I’m eating lunch.”

“Grab your tray and come with me.”

“What’s up?”

“I said come with me!”

Kelly had no idea what she’d done to warrant being yelled at in front of everyone, but it had to have been an awful mistake. She’d never been so embarrassed in her life.

“Mackie, if you’d please let Chris know I had to go. I’ll see him in a little bit.”

“Is everything alright?”

“Come on, get a move on!”

Michael was shouting at her from across the room. All eyes turned in her direction and she felt her face go supernova with her humiliation.

“I don’t know. I have no idea what’s wrong.”

“Well, chin up. It’s only your second day. How bad could it be?”

She didn’t scurry, and she didn’t hang her head. She walked swiftly towards Michael only to have him yank the tablet from her and pull her credentials off of her as he shoved her through the door. He thrust her purse into her hands.

“I’ve packed up your things. You’re fired.”


	11. Chapter 11

 

Kelly hadn’t quite stopped stumbling when Michael shoved her purse into her hands. It took every ounce of control she had not to explode at him. **  
**

_How dare he put his hands on me! How dare he push me, shove me! He has no right!_

Her world had gone gray; she was desperately trying to retain control. The problem was, Michael was forcing her hand.

“Don’t play dumb, you’re fired. Go on, get out of here. If you don’t leave, security’s gonna throw you out.”

She stumbled when he shoved her once more, and that’s when the rage took over.

* * *

 

Kelly became aware of her surroundings once again when she felt someone pick her up. She glanced at Jeremy and was surprised to see him. Gasping for breath as he carted her off, she glanced over his shoulder and was relieved to see that Mackie had Michael in a headlock. He wasn’t going anywhere.

A cacophony of sounds greeted her: chairs scraping against the floor, shouting, words all jumbled up and not making any sense. Kelly was confused as dishes clattered to the floor just before Jeremy set her down on the table. He had to pry her arms from around his neck and when he stood up there were several gasps and the room, briefly, fell silent.

Kelly’s eyes darted about, taking in the shocked looks and how frozen everyone seemed. The flurry of activity that erupted around caused further confusion. It was June and hot and Atlanta, why would someone be shouting about a blanket, because seriously, why on earth would she need a blanket?

Someone, she didn’t know who, draped one over her shoulders just as she heard Chris.

“What happened?”

Kelly finally calmed down when she heard his voice. She glanced in his direction and before she knew what was happening, Chris was at her side. He reached out to her a couple of times but couldn’t bring himself to touch her.

“What the hell happened?”

Kelly didn’t know how to answer him. Luckily, she didn’t have to. Jeremy spoke up.

“Michael came in, yelled at Kelly to follow him. He shoved her through the door. Mackie and me didn’t like that so we went to see what he was up to. Next thing I knew, Kelly was screaming at the top of her lungs for him to get his hands off of her. Mack was first through the door and by the time I saw anything, he was pulling Michael off of her. I got her back here and then you came in.”

Chris barely touched her cheek. Kelly was startled by the tingle of pain she felt.

“Kelly? Sweetheart, what did he do to you?”

Everything had happened so fast and her memory was foggy. She pulled the blanket tighter around her shoulders as she closed her eyes, trying to concentrate on what was slowly coming into focus. She shrugged, still trying to come up with something.

“What do you remember?”

She remembered being so embarrassed when Michael yelled her name. She remembered him shoving her through the door. And then she remembered-

“He fired me.”

Kelly couldn’t understand why her words only came out in a gravelly whisper.

“What? Why?”

“He didn’t say.”

Kelly tried to get up when she saw Paul coming her way.

“What the hell happened here? Oh my G-” He slowed, several feet in front of her, hand over his mouth. “Kel- Jesus, are you okay?”

She tried to get off the table. Chris wouldn’t let her.

“I should leave, I know you want me gone.”

“Why would I want you gone?” Paul took the last few steps needed to be in front of her. “Someone get the medic!”

Kelly continued struggling against Chris, wanting to get up and leave. This time, it was Paul who put a hand on her arm.

“Stop. You need to get checked out. What happened?”

Jeremy stepped in and recounted again what he’d seen, answering Paul’s questions along the way. About halfway through, the medic got there and checked on Kelly’s injuries. The hand print on her cheek wasn’t about to fade anytime soon. While it was possible that a bruise might form, it didn’t appear that there was any lasting damage done.

It was her neck, marks that kept turning a darker shade of red that looked suspiciously like fingers, that was concerning everyone. Every time Bob (his shirt told everyone his name was Bob) touched her neck, palpating to see if there was any real damage, Kelly winced.

Jeremy finished and almost everyone turned when Mackie opened the door and wrestled Michael - still in a headlock - through it and did an awkward two-step getting him over to where everyone was.

“Let me go!”

“Not until the cops get here!”

“She attacked me!”

“Bullshit! I pulled you off her!”

Michael fought against Mackie, yelling at the top of his lungs, his face turning purple.

“I was defending myself!”

There was a flurry of movement as Chris grabbed Michael and wrenched him out of Mackie’s grasp. He bellowed as he led him over to Kelly.

“You are the worst kind of fucking scum. You cannot even begin to tell me these are defensive!”

Chris’s vice-like grip on the scruff of his neck held Michael in place. He wasn’t getting away anytime soon.

“You tell me how your hands around her neck were defensive!”

“She was yelling at me.”

Kelly couldn’t believe her ears. She’d been scared to glance in his direction, but her desire to confront her attacker emboldened her. She sounded like an 80 year old 3-pack a day smoker when she finally started talking.

“Yelling at you? Yelling at you justified what you did to me?”

“I didn’t do anything to you!”

Kelly was instantly angry. She shoved Bob away and hopped off the table, the blanket falling to the floor. Chris and Paul were shocked when they saw that her shirt had been ripped down the front and hung open.

“You fired me for no reason and you shoved me, hard, several times.” Kelly could feel herself lose some of her control. She wanted to stop, and she tried, until Michael opened his mouth to refute her, once again. “You put your hands around my throat and squeezed! You tried to kill me!”

“I did no such thing!”

Kelly took another step, seemingly growing a foot taller in her rage.

“You don’t get to touch me! I didn’t give you permission to touch me!”

“I didn’t!”

Mackie stepped between them.

“I saw you!”

That stopped Michael.

“You yelled at her that she was fired and security was gonna throw her off the lot. She screamed for you to get your hands off of her and by the time I was through the door I saw the two of you, you’d ripped her shirt in two, and you were choking her.”

“I didn’t rip her shirt!”

Paul reached down and yanked fabric out of Michael’s hand. The strip of pale blue matched what was hanging off of Kelly’s torso. They all watched as the fight left him.

“Chris, I think you can let him go.”

“I don’t think so, Kel.”

“He won’t go after me, not with this many witnesses.”

Kelly took several quick steps back before Chris let him go. She didn’t want to be within arm’s reach of Michael.

Paul glanced at Kelly, his brow furrowing as he scrutinized her injuries. When the look of fear on her face registered in his brain, he stooped down and picked up the blanket. He draped it around her shoulders and smoothed the hair from her face.

“I’m going to take care of this. You won’t have to worry about him any more”

He grabbed Michael and led him away.

Chris was about to say something when Bob interrupted him.

“I don’t think there’s any damage, but I’ve called for a doctor to stop by, check you out.”

“I’m fine, I don’t need a doctor.”

“He’ll be able to find her in my trailer. Come on, let’s go get you comfortable.”

“But I don’t-”

“When Bob says you need to see a doctor, they won’t let you work until you’re checked out. Come on.”

* * *

 

Paul showed up right as the doctor was leaving and was pleased to hear that there was no real harm done, although there might be some bruising. He ushered the doctor out and then took a seat.

“How are you?”

While Kelly was tired of being asked that, she was grateful that people were concerned.

“I’ll probably be sore for a few days, but it’ll pass.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

She didn’t want to say what was on her mind, but she had to start being honest, both with herself and with others.

“What did I do to make him attack me? How do I stop having shit like this happen?”

“Kel, honey, this wasn’t your fault.”

She knew Chris didn’t know what he was talking about.

“That’s not entirely true. Kelly, you did do something, but it’s not your fault.”

“That doesn’t make any sense, Paul. What did I do?”

“You know that project he had you working on? The budget stuff? Well, he heard from the vendor he’d been using the past several years that you were soliciting for bids, and that was a problem. Turns out he hadn't been soliciting for bids in a while, he'd been faking them. He knew you were going to get lower bids and we’d use those vendors and he wouldn’t get the kickbacks he was counting on and he'd be found out.”

“Kickbacks? This was over money?”

“It’s been going on several years. It’s amounted to a couple hundred thousand dollars.”

“You’re kidding right?”

“You can press charges if you want.”

It only took her a few seconds to realize the problem she’d end up having.

“If I press charges, my real name would have to be used.”

Kelly’s peripheral vision caught Chris’s head snapping in her direction.

“Real name?”

Kelly stayed focused on her train of thought.

“And it would be a matter of public record.”

“What are you talking about, ‘real name’?”

“Which means, oh God, _he_ could find me.” She couldn’t control the panic welling up inside of her. “I can’t have that. I can’t go through that again. Why does this keep happening to me, Paul?”

“This isn’t your fault.”

“What are you two talking about?” Chris's frustration at being ignored was apparent.

She couldn’t bring herself to look at Chris. She and Paul carried on like he wasn’t even there.

“Why haven’t you told Chris?”

“Told me what?”

“I just found out who he was yesterday and we cleared the air last night. If we hadn't, I wouldn't have needed to, and you know the bind I'm in. I was going to this weekend.”

“Tell me what? What the hell’s going on?”

She could tell that continuing to ignore Chris was going to piss him off. She didn’t have time to deal with his emotions.

“Chris, can you just wait until this weekend?”

She saw his struggle, the gears grinding in his head as he thought things over. When he got really pissed, the muscles in his jaw stood out in clear relief. She knew she was about to be leveled, emotionally. It was why she was surprised when she saw a gentleness in his eyes.

“You know, you came down pretty hard on me when I hid something from you and I come to find out you’re hiding something, and you have been, all along?”

“Chris, it’s not the same-”

“You don’t tell me, but Paul knows?”

Kelly heard the hurt in his voice. It tore her in two.

“I had to tell him, HR, too.”

“So I’m the last to know. I mean that little to you?”

“No! You'll be the third to know! You’re going to look at me like I’m at fault, like I’m the one who did something wrong and I didn’t! I can’t have that! I can’t have you not believe me, too!”

Kelly was up off the couch and out the door in a flash, leaving two men in her wake: one confused and one with all the answers, only, he couldn’t say anything.


	12. Chapter 12

Kelly was relieved when she walked through the door to her apartment Thursday afternoon. She had three days to shake everything off, to get rid of all of the negativity of the week, and to start to get Chris out of her system.

After she’d walked out of his trailer he hadn’t spoken with her the rest of the week, save the few times that she’d been asked to fetch him. She’d expected him to be angry, sure. She’d expected yelling or accusations or something. What she got was the back of him.

It hurt her that he didn’t want anything to do with her, yet she hadn’t pushed him, hadn’t tried to see him, hadn’t forced his hand. If he didn’t want to see her or spend time with her, she wasn’t about to beat her head against a brick wall.

She kicked her shoes into the closet and stripped out of her clothes, leaving them in a pile on her floor. She needed to wash the grime of the day off of her. Hell, she needed to wash the week off of her. It didn’t take long and when she was done, she towel dried, grabbed a robe, and headed to the kitchen to fix herself a drink. She’d made the mixer the night before in preparation for the weekend. Kelly knew she could get good and toasted quickly if that was what she wanted, and it was most definitely what she needed after the week she’d had. She grabbed a water glass and mixed up her all time favorite cocktail. It was a favorite for many reasons: it felt healthy with the pomegranate and grapefruit juice which hid just how much vodka was in it. Plus, there was the word: pamplemousse…

_If only her mother could see her now, she’d  be so proud!_

Was it opposite day yet?

She put her headphones on after downing the drink and fixing her second and made her way to her back yard. She welcomed the humidity as it washed over her. Collapsing onto the chaise and turning up her music, she drank her second drink and felt the numbness wash over her. She was out before her first song finished.

 

* * *

_Chris’s head buried between her thighs, his tongue taking its sweet time as he lapped at her folds, he was good at this, and the asshole knew it, too. Kelly saw the smirk that reached his eyes as she urged him, begging him to let her come. His lips, perfectly puckered, found her clit, sucking it into his mouth, his tongue gentle and insistent as her back arched and-_

Her eyes popped open as she woke moments before what she was sure would have been one hell of a orgasm, even if only in her dreams. She cursed her luck.

“Fuck!”

“Language!”

Her head whipped around and her eyes landed on Chris, too fucking handsome for his own good, leaning against the fence that divided their backyards.

“How long have you been here?”

“Long enough.”

If she didn’t know any better, she had the same smug asshole from her dream standing not more than 10 feet away.

_If only!_

“What are you doing here?”

“Funny thing happened when I got home. I grabbed a beer and came out back to think. I wanted to figure out how to get you to let me in since I’ve been avoiding you. I needed to figure out how to explain myself, and surprise surprise, I heard moaning.”

Kelly wanted the earth to open up right under her, swallow her whole. She was pretty sure the heat she felt everywhere meant she was completely flushed. Why couldn’t it be dark so he couldn’t see the evidence of her humiliation?

“I thought, no way could you be with someone. You’ve been working such long hours, when would you have met him? I’ll be honest, I was torn: head inside to give you some privacy or interrupt you and give you a piece of my mind.”

“Apparently you didn’t do either.”

She watched as he took a long pull from his beer before he pushed off the fence and sauntered over to her, not saying anything. She scooted over when he sat on the chaise.

“I was pissed.”

“I’m sor-”

“I’m not done.”

His harsh tone hurt, but she endured it. She knew she deserved it.

“I thought, how could you throw us away like that?”

She tried to sit up. “Let me explain.”

His fingers settled on her lips. “I’m still not done.”

He felt her trembling. His hand settled on her stomach and he felt her fluttering breath.

“I knew what was on your mind, what you were thinking about when I peeked through the fence and saw you, alone. I listened to you, and kicked myself that I was eavesdropping, but I just couldn’t tear myself away.”

Kelly’s heart raced.

“And then I heard you say my name. I thought you knew I was there and were calling me over, but when I hopped the fence I saw that you were asleep. I know I should have gone right back over that fence, but I couldn’t. I’m not proud of this, Kelly, but I’ve been over here for more time than I care to admit.”

She reached for him but he stopped her. When he spoke, his voice was rough with want and desire. It did things to her.

“I’ve thought about this, us, together. I’ve thought about you on top of me, in front of me, under me, naked, like you are under this robe. I’ve thought about what it would be like. I realized you’ve thought about it, about us, too. You were dreaming about me, about us.”

Kelly realized just how smooth Chris was when she felt his hand on the bare skin of her stomach. She hadn’t noticed him untying the sash to her robe. As his hand worked up her torso the fabric parted.

“How’s your neck?”

“No pain.”

“Good, good.” His fingertips were back on her lips. This time she was prepared, except she wasn’t, not really. “Is this okay, me touching you?”

Kelly put her hand on his, stilling his movement, before grabbing his wrist and directing his hand to where she wanted it to be. He cupped her breast, thumb running back and forth over her hardening nipple.

“Was this what was I doing to you, in your dream?”

Kelly’s nails dug into his thigh when he pinched her nipple, back arching. She wanted him touching her like he had in her dream. She needed him.

“Your head, you were buried between my thighs.”

Chris bent over her, lips a whisper away from hers. His hand was no longer on her breast.

“Tell me.”

“You were licking my pussy.”

His fingers glided over her delicate flesh, working their way in as he kissed her. He kept his touch light, teasing.

Kelly parted her lips for his tongue and her legs for his fingers, tugging on his shirt, wanting him closer, wanting him on top of her, wanting him inside her.

He wouldn’t budge.

Her hand worked up his thigh. She felt his muscles ripple as they tensed, heard his groan as she worked her hand under his shorts, under his boxers, and palmed him, feeling his velvety smooth skin grow taut, stretching as he grew harder with each stroke of her fingers.

Kelly tried to take control, but Chris wouldn’t let her. He gently rubbed her clit and her hand spasmed, her movements coming to a halt as she moaned, her body shuddering.

He smiled his way out of the kiss and whispered into her ear, “is that what you want?”

Chris bit her shoulder when her hand closed around him.

“You. You’re what I want.”

He finally budged, standing and pulling her along with him. He boosted her up and grabbed her waist.

“I’m not doing this outside. Too many people around and I need to hear you.”

Kelly hung on for dear life as Chris made a beeline for her bedroom and set her on her feet at the foot of her bed before backing up to her doorway.

“I’ll be right back. I need to, um, go get something.”

Before Kelly could say anything, he was out the door. It took her a second to realize he probably meant condoms and she almost called after him, but she heard her patio door close and knew he was already out of earshot.

_He’s in a hurry!_

She glanced around her room and scrambled to pick up the clothes off the floor. Not that they’d be spending much time on the floor, but she didn’t want anything to distract them. She wondered how much time she had. Could she change into something sexy? Wait, she could brush her teeth. No, she should change, maybe make her bed-no, that’s ridiculous-she needed to brush her teeth.

When done, Kelly headed to her closet, intent on finding something to change into, and after a few minutes wondered what was keeping him. Was this his plan all along, to get back at her: get her all hot and bothered and tease her and make her want more and then leave her hanging?

Kelly cinched the belt of her robe trying to ward off the bad feeling creeping into her bones.

“What are you doing in here?”

Startled, Kelly spun to Chris, relaxing when she laid eyes on him. Something was different.

“Did you change clothes?”

He grabbed her hand and tugged her out of the closet.

“I did more than that, Kel. I was all sweaty so I took a shower. I could smell your soap and I thought I should be clean, too, at least, before we get sweaty together.”

Chris scooped her up and tossed her onto the bed, his smile bright when he heard her laughter. Kelly crawled on her elbows and heels towards her pillows, eyes locked on Chris as he stalked her, settling next to her.

The disappointed look on his face from Tuesday flashed in her mind and the light in Kelly’s eyes extinguished.

“What just happened?”

Could she shake it off? _Should_ she shake it off?

“As much as I want this, as I want you, I need to be honest with you first. I need to clear the air.”

“Okay.”

“My name? It isn’t Kelly Alexander. It’s Alexandra Kelly Kyrkos.”

Chris got up on his side, leaned on his elbow, and looked down at her.

“Is that supposed to mean something?”

She shook her head before answering.

“I wouldn’t expect it to.”

She didn’t continue. Chris waited and waited, but she didn’t.

“So, you don’t go by your name. Is there a reason for that?”

“Yeah.”

He gave her time, time to explain herself, and she didn’t. He thought he needed to take a different route.

“Who’s this guy you’re afraid of?”

That seemed to break through to her.

“I tell you this, you can’t tell anyone.”

“Okay.”

Kelly hesitated before continuing. “Seriously, no one. No family, no friends, not a soul.”

“Okay, you got it. No one.”

“By telling you, I’ll be violating the agreement and if it ever gets out they’ll sue me, and with as connected as they are, they’d win.”

Chris almost argued that he had connections, too, but he thought better of it.

“I got it. I won’t tell anyone.”

When she didn’t speak right away, Chris wondered if he needed to ask again.

“Have you heard of Senator Hazel Abbott?”

“Of course.”

“Well, I worked on her campaign. My family has connections so I was able to get in for an interview. The campaign manager liked me, she liked me, well, she said she did. I think she liked my family’s contribution more. I was her office manager, but by the end of the campaign I was really her deputy campaign manager. The guy they’d hired was incompetent.”

“Now it all makes sense.”

“What?”

“Why you hate Tr-, um, the man whose name I’m not allowed to say.”

Kelly muttered “asshole” under her breath before closing her eyes, willing her blood pressure back down.

“Come on, Kel. None of that. But wait, what should I call you? Should I be calling you Kelly?”

Her eyes popped back open and she got on her side, looking Chris squarely in the eye.

“Yes, you should. I haven’t liked that I needed to use a different name and, and I’ve always hated Kelly until I heard you say it. I like it when you say my name.”

“You do?”

She nodded, unsure as to why there was a sudden gleam in his eyes, until…

“Is there anything else I do that you like?”

He was glad to see her relax.

“You are impossible!” She shoved at his shoulder and he collapsed back onto the bed, taking her with him. “Stop flirting, I need to finish.”

“Okay. Sorry.”

He released her and then saw the tenseness come back, her lips pursing before she spoke.

“So, I worked on her campaign. I pretty much went everywhere she did. I got to know her, and I got to know her family, too. There were a lot of late nights and early mornings, a lot of… meals and conversations.” She’d stopped and didn’t look like she was going to continue.

“Did something happen?”

It was more than a few beats before she responded. Chris was surprised by the tears he saw starting to form.

“Yeah. I had no idea, but apparently, well, he ended up claiming that I made him think I was in love with him. At least, that’s what he said.”

“Who?”

Chris did everything he could to hide his frustration when she didn’t answer right away. He didn’t know what had happened, but it had to have been serious if she wasn’t using her name.

“It was the night of the election, the returns were coming in and the Senator was doing really well. I was on the phone with some of the press so I was in another room because it was so noisy in hers. He came in-”

Chris’s stomach did somersaults when she stopped mid-sentence. He was afraid of where her story was going to go.

“I thought he was just looking for an update. I finally had a break between calls and I started to tell him what was going on, but he- I need to make it clear: I never said anything to make him think that I was even remotely interested. There were only a handful of times that we were ever alone and we were always talking about the campaign, never about him or me or us, I mean, there wasn’t even an _us_ to talk about. And the timing was completely and utterly crazy! Mr. Franklin had already called the Senator and conceded and given his speech and we’d set the schedule for when she was going to go down to accept- I had just told the network, he heard me tell them that she’d be down in five minutes. He, he kissed me and he tried-” her voice caught and she wasn’t sure she could continue, “and I slapped him, hard, I mean I hit him really, really hard. I was going to be on her staff, she’d already offered me a position and I’d accepted it and was in the process of transferring to Georgetown. Everyone knew I was going to work for her!”

Chris gently wiped at the few tears that had escaped before he asked, “who did this to you?”

It took everything Kelly had not to go screaming from the room. She was putting a lot of faith and trust in Chris and was pretty sure she was right to do so, but there was just the tiniest, smallest sliver of a doubt. It was either now or never.

“Thomas,” Kelly felt a weight lift from her shoulders and then settle right back down. It wasn’t over. “Her husband.”

“Fuck!”

Kelly let that sink in, plus, she wasn’t all that sure what to say.

“That explains your reaction when I told you Grillo was married.”

Kelly huffed a laugh.

“Yeah. Anyway, I agreed not to press charges and they paid me off and I went back to school at Stanford instead of going to work for the Senator, but then all the crap started happening and-”

“All the crap?”

“The school said I’d withdrawn, which I hadn’t. I showed up for work, and they were surprised since they’d said I quit, which I hadn’t. My smoke alarm kept going off, and then a water pipe burst in my apartment. A guy I was dating was getting harassing calls. Couple days after we split up, Thomas showed up at my door and he let something slip when I was trying to get rid of him and I realized he was behind most of that stuff. When I put it all together, he hurt me.”

“What did he do?”

She stopped and glanced at Chris. There was so much pain in her eyes that he almost reached out to her. She shook her head as she spoke.

“You know what? This is a lot harder than I thought it would be. Can I just say he did enough that I was able to get a restraining order and leave it at that?”

“Those are serious.”

“Yeah.”

“Don’t they require evidence?”

“Yeah.”

“He really hurt you, didn’t he?”

This time, Kelly nodded. “I really don’t want to talk about any of it anymore other than to say there was other trouble he caused and I knew he’d always find me so I thought doing something about my name might help.”

“Come here.”

He tucked her under his chin as they hugged, slowly running his hand up and down her back. He wasn’t about to let anything happen to her if he could help it.

“You haven’t heard from him?”

“No. I don’t know if he’s not looking, which would be great, or if he just can’t find me. I had to tell HR and Paul in case someone calls and asks for me, they needed to know. And I wanted to use Kelly Alexander and I haven’t legally changed my name so I had to tell them what was going on. They worked with me on stuff, like email and whatnot.” She tilted her head back and looked up at him. She needed to know if he believed her. “I wanted to tell you, Chris, and I planned on it, this weekend, seriously, I did. But then all the shit with Michael-”

Chris’s kiss did exactly what he wanted it to do: it stopped her talking. After letting herself get carried away and feeling her body respond like it had when they’d been outside, she took her arms from around his neck and pushed on his shoulders. He hesitated for a split second before stopping.

“I’m sorry, Chris.”

“For what?”

“For hiding this from you.”

“If I remember correctly, you actually told me Kelly was your fake name.”

“I did?”

“Yeah, it came back to me, while you were talking. It was when I was helping you get cleaned up, you know, after your knees, and you were flirting with me and I asked your name-”

“No, that’s not right. I don’t flirt.”

“Whatever. You said you were legally obligated to keep your story to yourself, and you told me you gave me your fake name. You even said I had to earn the right to learn your real one.”

“I did? I don’t remember that.”

“Yeah, and I realized just how big of an ass I’d been about this. You said something, Tuesday, and it stuck with me. Did no one believe you about this?”

“The cops, and the judge did, thank God.”

“Did the Senator?”

“If she did, she never said. My mom sure didn’t.”

There was entirely too much pain in Kelly’s voice.

“Well, I believe you.”

“You do? You’re not going to leave?”

“Nope.”

“Good, I’m grateful, but-”

It didn’t take much to silence Kelly, just one finger pressed against her lips.

“No buts, Kel. I get it. I understand why you didn’t immediately tell me everything, I sure as hell wouldn’t have if I’d been in your shoes. I understand why you kept it a secret.”

“You’re being so much better about this than I could have ever hoped.”

“Well, I kept a secret from you. I don’t have anymore. Do you? Have more secrets?”

“No, just details about what he put me through.”

“Is there anything else you want to tell me?”

“Not right now. In fact, I’d like to be done talking for a while.”

“Do you want me to go? Give you some space? I know this was hard-”

“No. I’d really prefer it if you’d stay.”

“Anything you want, Kel. C’mere.”

Kelly curled up against Chris, feeling comfort and relief at having someone so solid in her corner. After a few minutes, her breath evened out and he heard the most adorable soft snore. Her rhythmic breathing calmed the anger he’d felt building. He marveled that she was comforting him when she was the one who was in need. He closed his eyes and felt how just being near her soothed him.

Soon, they were fast asleep, tangled up in one another.


	13. Chapter 13

Kelly didn’t know how long she’d been asleep, but it was either the lack of extra body heat (or maybe it was cooling down - it was Hotlanta, after all) or Chris in the bathroom, but she woke. She was comfortable and relaxed, far more relaxed than she’d been in a while, and she was relieved. She’d told him ‘the big bad’ and he’d hung around after.

Well, wait, maybe he was getting dressed to head back home.

 _Had he ever gotten undressed?_ No, he couldn’t have. There was no way she would have forgotten that.

The water turned on, _good man!_ , and she made a decision. With speed and determination, she took her robe off without getting out of bed and lay her head back down right as the door opened. She hoped Chris was ready for a surprise.

Kelly was the one surprised when Chris left the room.

 _It really was that bad. Fuck, he didn_ _’t believe me!_

Shocked. Dumbfounded. And then Kelly was surprised again when he came back into the room and set a glass on the bedside table. He’d gone to get water. She let out a sigh of relief as she heard the rustling of fabric.

“Kel? You awake?”

As an answer, she pulled the sheet back so he could get in bed.

“Are you sure? I thought you might want me to leave.”

She sat up and grabbed for his hand. If it hadn’t been apparent before (she didn’t know how good his night vision was), she was pretty sure the sharp intake of breath was because he saw her.

“I don’t want you to think we have to do anything.”

“Well, then why were you taking off your clothes just now?”

“I was hot. I was only going to strip down to my boxers.”

It was everything she could do not to laugh out loud. She loved how he was scrambling to explain himself.

“Well, if you’d rather not, I’ll put my robe back on.”

“No, no, that’s okay.” He moved to get back into bed, but Kelly needed one thing.

“Before anything happens, would you do me a favor?”

“What do you need?”

“Would you turn the light on in the bathroom and close the door part way? I like some light but don’t want to turn on my bedside lamp, it would be too harsh. I mean, as long as that’s okay with you.”

Kelly was pretty sure she saw a flash of teeth as he took the few steps to the bathroom.

“And will you do me a favor?”

She wondered what he wanted.

“Depends. What is it?”

He turned around in the doorway before making his request.

“Don’t move? I wanna see you.”

She felt a wave crash over her before she answered. She was responding to him again, not just to the sound of his voice, but the need, the desire she heard. She had to swallow several times before she found her voice.

“Okay.”

He must have hit the switch when he heard her begin to respond because the light turned on before she finished.

Because he was back-lit, Kelly couldn’t see where he was looking. She didn’t know if he was looking at her face or if his eyes were roaming over any particular part of her body. That didn’t stop her skin from breaking out in wave after wave of gooseflesh and tingles, imagining where his eyes might be focusing. She wanted to close her eyes or glance away, anything to reduce her embarrassment, but she didn’t.

 _Why should I be embarrassed? He wants to be here, doesn_ _’t he? He wants to see me, right? Then why shouldn’t I let him see me. Hell, why shouldn’t I see him?_

He lingered in the doorway longer than she thought he would. She started to get concerned.

“Something wrong?”

He reached back, apparently not wanting to take his eyes from her as he felt for the door before he closed it partway.

While she still couldn’t make out his face, she was temporarily blinded since the light had shone directly in her eyes, she could see that he was coming towards her. She finally started to smile.

“Not even close to being wrong. You’re perfect, Kel.”

“Nope, not perfect.”

She saw him bend over and realized he was probably removing any remaining clothes. She silently cursed the spots in her vision as he knelt on the bed and walked on his knees to her. When he reached out to her, stroking her cheek with his thumb as he cradled her jaw, she leaned into his touch. She wanted more. She wanted him touching all of her.

“Yeah. To me you are.”

He bent over her, sealing his lips to hers and he sighed as she moaned, his tongue slipping past her lips. As much as they each wanted this, neither of them wanted to rush.

Slowly, Kelly got up on her knees, pressing her body to Chris as she straightened up. The sheet that had been covering the bottom half of her dropped, and Chris took advantage. He kept one hand on the back of her head, holding her in place as the other dropped to her waist, fingers grazing over her warm skin. He sought out her hip, following its curve as he spread his fingers, feeling the give of her flesh. He pulled her closer, his hand cupping her bum.

Kelly felt him stir, felt his body respond to the feel of hers, respond as she broke the kiss and sought out his neck and his clavicle. Her lips felt the hair on his chest as she kissed her way down, tongue sneaking out to grab a taste, teeth not wanting to be left out as they scraped over him.

When he grabbed her by the shoulders and brought her back up to him for a kiss, she hid her disappointment. When he tossed her back onto the bed, her head not quite hitting the pillow, she laughed. When he collapsed on top of her, covering her body with his, she sighed, her arms seeking him out, pulling him in for a kiss. Kelly had become impatient. She’d waited for what felt like forever for this time with him.

 _Of course_ she’d noticed how good looking he was that first time, when she’d confronted him about his ukulele playing. How could she not have: body of a god, face of an angel, and piercing blue eyes that, with one glance, shot straight to her groin. She’d masked what was really going on in her head each time they saw each other. Had he not used sesame seed oil that night, they probably would have had sex then. It was what was on her mind when she first kissed him, on his couch. Her urge to feel his body had completely overwhelmed her. When the reality of what she was doing had smacked her in the face and how forward she’d been, that’s when she’d rushed out back. Being anywhere near meant she was on a slippery slope that would only lead to her tearing her clothes off and throwing herself at him. She was glad, though, that she hadn’t done that. It meant that she could savor this time with him.

This time, Chris was the one to break the kiss, to tease her jaw and neck, to take his time tasting her. His hand closed around her breast as he kneaded her, feeling her nipple pucker and peak. He bent his mouth to her, eyes on her face as his tongue flicked her, toyed with her. He sucked her flesh into his mouth, biting her just enough to hold her in place as his tongue caressed her.

Real-Chris was so much better than dream-Chris!

Kelly’s hands massaged their way from his shoulders to his neck to his head. She didn’t grab his hair or hold him in place. Rather, she scratched at his scalp, back trying to arch as she felt the shot of adrenaline coursing through her. He released her and felt her shudder and grab a fistful of his hair when he blew, instantly cooling her wet skin. She expected him to move. Instead he concentrated on the one spot, lips and teeth and tongue working in concert, coaxing all kinds of sounds out of her.

Soon, her body was writhing under him. She tried to wrap her legs around him. Instead, his hands moved and pressed her knee back down to the bed as he slid to the side, finally moving to her other breast. He was even more insistent, slowing down and spending more time. He was ready for when she grabbed for him this time. He reached back and pulled her hands from his head. One hand held both her wrists above her head as he tossed his leg over hers, pinning her to the bed.

“Finally. Come on, Kel, try to relax. I’m gonna take my time. I can’t even tell you how long I’ve wanted this.”

“Couldn’t possibly be as long as I’ve wanted it.”

“Seriously?”

“Yeah, first time I saw you, in fact.”

He was not going to be outdone.

“You were barefoot, in that green t-shirt that barely covered you. It was clear I’d woken you up. It took every ounce of restraint I had not to toss you over my shoulder and take you into my bedroom.”

“I would have gone willingly.”

“Fuck! Damn, you had me fooled.”

“Good to know.”

“I don’t want you to hide anything from me, ‘kay?”

She thought about it.

“Well, every gal’s gotta have her secrets…”

“Nothing important.”

She wanted to reassure him, to stroke his cheek and make him close his eyes, lean into her touch, but she couldn’t.

“What do you consider to be important?”

He kissed her before responding.

“What you think is a good bedtime. What you want for dinner, or, even better, for breakfast.”

Her goofy grin mirrored his as he continued.

“Do you have an opinion on bacon versus sausage?”

Surely he was jesting.

“Why would bacon need to fight sausage? Why can’t we just have both?”

“Good to know you’re a both is good kinda gal. How about, do you squeeze the toothpaste from the middle or the bottom?”

“Now you’re talking serious issues. From the bottom, of course.”

His thumb ran over her, caressing her and she imagined him doing that exact stroke in many different places. She felt a shiver run through her body.

“Do you shiver because you’re cold, or because I’m touching you.”

“Oh, only because I’m cold.”

“Even when it’s 95 degrees and like 150% humidity?”

“Especially then.”

He paused, wondering how she’d respond.

“Were you honest with me earlier?”

“Yes. I’ve only been honest with you.”

Chris sighed. He hated doing it, but…

“Except about your name.”

“You told me I told you that it was my fake name, and that was true.”

“You didn’t remember that, though. Look, other than that…”

“I’ve been honest with you.”

He thumbed her bottom lip, playing with its fullness, taking his time.

“So, what you said about what I was doing in your dream?”

“Yes?”

“Was that-”

“Yes.”

“Do you want-”

“Ye-mmmph”

Chris’s kiss cut off her reply. He’d been pretty sure he knew her answer and was happy he was right. He got up and grabbed her foot, dragging her to the edge of the bed.

“What are you-” Her reply ceased when he tossed her leg over his shoulder.

“I’m gonna take my time with you.” Chris turned his head and kissed the inside of her thigh, stopping her from saying anything else. He lingered, staying in that spot, drinking in her scent. “I’m not in any kind of rush.”

He switched to her other leg and kissed her juncture, using his nose, lips, chin, and tongue, laying his cheek against her warm skin before turning back to the other side. As much as he wanted to close his eyes and memorize everything he was experiencing, he kept an eye on her. It was how he caught her hands before they sank into his hair.

“No, baby. Just let me.”

He kissed his way up her leg and then from one side to the other, chuckling when Kelly just about came out of her skin. Chris was pleased he’d surprised her. He continued with his warm, open-mouthed kisses down to the inside of her knee.

He put his hands on her thighs, gently, slowly opening her up to him. He kissed and licked and reveled in her heady, musky scent. He took his time. He wanted her ready for him. When she started moving her hips, trying to get him right where she wanted him, that was when he licked a wide, warm stripe up her, eliciting a gorgeous moan. On his second pass, he curled the tip of his tongue, dipping between her labia and the sounds she was making went up by an octave. He stopped just short of the promised land as he wedged her legs apart. He repeated himself, slowing his movements as he delved deeper each time, always stopping short. He was watching her face, seeing smiles and smirks appear and disappear, her lips forming an “O” and the sounds louder when he did something she really liked. He was watching, waiting for-

Kelly’s back arched, her hips moving, trying, again, to get him where she wanted. Time for-

He sealed his mouth over her opening, his tongue circling, stroking, rubbing, paying close attention to where she was most sensitive, where he’d feel her legs start to tremble. He’d back off until she’d just recovered and then seek out that same spot again, play with her, make her think he was going to stay there before moving on and finding that next, ultra-sensitive spot. He was waiting for-ah, finally, when she brought her head up, eyes wide, he moved his hands to her, gently spreading her open. He stretched, his tongue lapping at her, seeking out all she was giving him as he moved his thumb so he could-

“Ah, fuck!”

Contact!

Initially, he didn’t do anything other than lay his thumb on that little bundle of nerves. After a few moments, though, he gently stroked with the smallest of circular movements. He didn’t take his eyes from her as her voice went up another octave.

“M-more… plea-pleasemore.”

When she felt Chris’s lips surround her and his tongue start the same, gentle caressing circles that his thumb had been doing only seconds before, nothing else mattered, only what Chris was doing to her.

Chris was amazed at just how sensitive Kelly was, how her clit required so little pressure before she was shaking, practically coming out of her skin. He saw she was trying to sink her fingers into the bed, grab onto something, anything, so he reached for her, interlacing their fingers and giving her something tangible to hold onto. What she was experiencing was so much more intense than anything she’d ever felt, but at the same time it wasn’t nearly enough.

He kept her like that, giving her not even quite a taste of what was around the corner, for a while. _A little more:_ a couple of times his strokes were faster, a couple he was a bit stronger, and one, well, what he did just about pushed her over the edge faster than he wanted. _A little less_ : then he’d back off or slow down. Kelly was desperate to get closer, to have Chris send her up into the stratosphere (or hell, maybe it would be to the stars with what he was doing to her), but he’d slowed down, _again_ , and she was desperate. She needed more.

“Please don’t tease…”

Chris squeezed her hand and Kelly felt-

What the hell?

He’d pulled her into his mouth and wasn’t just rubbing, but massaging her with his tongue. With his other hand he reached up, pinching and rolling her nipple as she shot straight for that crescendo. Her body woke, telling her that it was going to be glorious.

Her body wasn’t wrong.

It was a white light that her body didn’t see, but felt. That light was in one spot, at the very center of her being, and then suddenly everywhere. It was physically blinding, overwhelming. Her entire body was this singular sensation that was radiating out of her in waves.

It was longer than normal before those waves slowed and then reversed, that she became aware of her surroundings once again. She felt Chris’s fingers on her face, brushing the hair out of her eyes, stroking along her cheek and jaw before tilting her chin in his direction. Kelly opened her eyes just in time to see Chris close in for a kiss.

It started slow, it started soft. It started with her quiet sighs of contentment and his wordless answer. It started with Kelly tasting herself on Chris’s lips, his tongue. It progressed. It progressed to Kelly letting go of Chris’s hand so she could hold him, hold the back of his head to her. It progressed to Chris moving over her, covering her body with his. It progressed to her hum of approval and his response just before she tossed her leg over his hip. It progressed as their desire intensified, hands clenching, each holding onto the other, not wanting to let go.

Chris tried to get up, but Kelly was having none of that. She tossed her other leg around his waist and held on tight. They both started giggling.

“Kel, come on, let me up.”

She stretched her head to the side, and Chris was encouraged to bite at the tendon in her neck.

“No.”

“What, do you not want-”

“No! I do!”

Chris ran his tongue along the tendon. When he reached her ear he lipped at the lobe, happy when Kelly squeezed his arm.

“I need to grab a condom.”

She didn’t let go of him, didn’t move a muscle. She knew what she wanted, but not everything was up to her.

“Look, I’m clean, and I’m on birth control. If you still want or need to go grab a condom, I won’t stop you.”

Chris stopped what he was doing and studied her. He knew what all the people in his life would tell him what he should do. He knew what his mother would tell him he needed to do.

“It’s not that I don’t trust you, but-”

“It’s okay, Chris. If you want to use a condom I’m not offended.”

“I, um, I just don’t remember seeing birth control when I put you to bed, you know, after your knees. I wasn’t looking for stuff like that, I was looking for your Advil, but I don’t recall seeing it.”

She stretched her arm out overhead. “I don’t rely on a pill. I have an implant. You should be able to see it.”

Chris glanced up as she continued.

“The absolute last thing I’m ready for right now is a kid, and I wanted something that didn’t have to rely on me taking a pill every day.” She paused for a moment before a soft smile broke out across her face. “I know, not a sexy conversation to be having right now, but you want or need a condom, that’s fine, you don’t, that’s fine, too. I’m covered.”

Kelly released him and waited for him to get up.

Instead, Chris went back to kissing her neck, this time working to her shoulder.

“I’m clean, Kel. You sure about this?”

She concentrated on what his lips and tongue and teeth were doing before answering.

“Yeah, I’m sure.”

She half expected that Chris would immediately fuck her. Okay, truth be told, it was more than half, and it was what she hoped, not expected.

Chris had a different plan.

When he continued exactly what he was doing, didn’t change a thing, Kelly groaned; she knew she was on Chris’s timetable.

“What’s wrong, baby?”

Kelly arched into him, rubbing her body against his. She needed-

“I need you.”

Chris stopped what he was doing.

“Do me a favor?”

“Hm?”

He took first one hand, then the other. Chris didn’t want her to distract him so he held her hands over her head. He was now stretched out on top of her.

“Will you say that again? Please?”

“Did you like that?”

At that distance, his smile decimated her.

“Yeah.” His kiss was chaste, sweet. “I wanna hear you say it again.”

Kelly was overwhelmed by what she thought she saw on his face, even in the shadows: desire, hope, affection, and so much more. She could only mouth the words. _I need you._

“Please, I want to hear you say it.”

This was one of those times she wanted more light than she had. She wanted to see, to clearly see what was going on with him.

“I need you, Chris.”

As he dipped in for a kiss, Kelly wrapped her legs around his, her feet landing on the backs of his calves. It had been too long since she last wanted to have sex with the man with whom she was in a relationship. She was sure she’d never wanted to be with someone as much as she did Chris.

He got up, wedging his knees under her legs, lifting her hips, as he sought her out, testing to see if she was ready for him. Kelly tried to close her eyes which only caused him to stop. He admonished her.

“I want you to keep your eyes on me. Can you do that?”

“I’ll try.”

He played with her, stroking her flesh. He watched as her jaw quivered and her eyes briefly rolled.

“Do you like that?”

“Yes.” Her sibilant ‘s’ dragged out as she exhaled. She was moving, chasing his fingers and Chris gave her exactly what she wanted, his thumb barely touching her, making her produce the tiniest of whimpers. They were both more than ready.

Chris stretched out over her, digging his arms under Kelly, lowering himself to her. He moved his hips, running the head of his dick along her, feeling her coat him before he entered her, slowly, each savoring the feel of them coming together. He loved seeing her reaction, how she’d bite her lips and her eyes would flutter, and how her skin flushed to a deep rosé color. He tugged on her bottom lip once he was fully within before kissing her, passionately. They both sighed, answering each other’s moans before Chris flexed his hips, a small movement that took him out an inch or two before sinking back into her warmth. Kelly broke their kiss, breathing hard.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, don’t stop, you feel too good.”

Slow movements, gentle strokes, everything about that time was about them getting to know each other, their tells. He already knew that her jaw trembling was a really good thing, but if she did more, extra sounds or even some eyerolls, he knew he needed to keep doing exactly what he was doing.

When Chris got up on his hands to give himself some better control, Kelly pulled on her knees, tilting her pelvis so she could-

“Oh, God yes, right there. Oh yeah yeah yeah…”

His pace picked up and her sounds, her moans and oohs and aahs and her breathless words all merged into one seamless sound, until-

“M’close…”

Her eyes wide, jaw clenched, desperate for that last little spark that would set her off, Chris was pleased to see that look.

“Keep your eyes on me when you come, Kel. Don’t close ‘em. I wanna see you.”

On the next stroke, he rocked against her clit and that set her off. Chris felt her tumble over and saw when she let go of her legs. He collapsed on top of her, hips still moving, grabbing her face and staring into her eyes. He groaned as she wailed, wave after wave of bliss crashing over both of them, her body’s sensual, rhythmic pulsing trying to keep him exactly where he was.

The smile was slow to grace her face when it was over. She pulled her arms in and reached up for him. Her hand on the back of his neck dragged him down to her. He felt her tongue lick his bottom lip, back and forth.

“Your turn.”

She rocked against him, doing what she could to encourage him to move, to take what he wanted.

And he did. He even got greedy. He needed to see her lose control again.

And again.

He was finally ready for his. He let his body take over, take exactly what it needed from her. His hands under her knees, pelvis tilted back, he felt her, he felt all of her. He watched as sweat dripped from him and ran up her torso, following the valley between her breasts, urged on as he thrust into her, harder, faster. He wanted this part to last, this buildup. He held on as long as he could.

“I want you to come in me, Chris.”

Kelly’s declaration broke through the last gossamer strand that was holding him together. He shouted several times as he spilled into her, thrusting one final time before collapsing, panting.

He stayed inside of her, on top of her, kissing. Kissing her jaw, kissing her neck, kissing her mouth. They kissed until she started laughing, shoving at him.

“You are hot and sweaty and I need to go clean up and I need water and food! I’m starving!”

Chris rolled off of her.

“I’d offer to fix you dinner, but we’d have to go back to my place. You have no food here.”

He heard her muffled reply through the bathroom door.

“I have food. I have cereal.”

“That won’t be enough. You’ll be starving in half an hour. I can make us dinner.”

He heard her groan and his body responded. He was chuckling when she emerged.

“Why are you laughing?”

“Not important.”

“If you’re making dinner, that means I have to get dressed and I wasn’t planning on putting on clothes. Do you want me to get dressed?”

“No. But, if you wear that blue dress you wore last Saturday, you wouldn’t have to put anything else on. You could be naked under that dress.”

Kelly sat on the bed and spied the water on the bed-stand. She guzzled it down before responding.

“That’s definitely a possibility. Or, I could order a pizza, stay naked, and you could figure out how to keep my mouth occupied until the food arrives. Your choice.”


	14. Chapter 14

“16 inch, half Carnivore, half Vegetarian, a couple of large Garden salads, oh, and garlic bread with cheese. Nope, don’t need dressing. How about a couple of Cokes and a couple of root beers.”

Kelly headed to the living room to fish her credit card out of her wallet and finish up the order.

“Okay, the number is- hey!”

Chris had followed her out of the bedroom when he realized she was intending to pay. He’d grabbed the phone out of her hand.

“No, I got it.” He rattled of his credit card information and as he was doing so, Kelly couldn’t help herself: she circled behind him, got on her knees, and bit his butt.

Chris heard a scream on the other end of the phone when he shouted his surprise. Kelly fell, collapsing in a fit of giggles.

“Sorry about that. Do you have what you need? How long? Okay. Thanks.”

Kelly knew she was in trouble when Chris hung up and tossed her phone to the couch. By the time he pivoted in her direction, she’d sprung up and was halfway to her bedroom. The door slammed shut just as Chris caught up to her.

“What the hell’s gotten into you?”

“Isn’t it obvious?”

As he flung the door open, he heard the bathroom door slam shut, Kelly’s giggles echoing off the tile. He heard the shower curtain move and imagined her getting into the tub. There was nowhere else for her to go. When he opened the bathroom door, she dramatically flung the curtain closed. They were both laughing, uncontrollably, by the time he pushed the plasticized fabric aside.

“…the hell is wrong with you?”

“Nothing.”

He stepped into the tub, backing her into the corner.

“What has gotten into you?”

“It’s not obvious?”

“No?”

Kelly stood on her tiptoes, flung her arms around Chris’s neck, and kissed the breath right out of him.

“You.” She nuzzled his jaw, kissing and licking her way down the tendon in his neck.

“Me what?”

“Silly, you got into me.” She continued her trek, across his shoulder down his clavicle, moving to the other side to tongue his tattoo.

“I take it you liked that?”

Her lips and tongue found his nipple and answered his groan with a “mmhmm”, her nails teasing their way up his inner thigh. He reached down and picked her up, stepping out of the tub.

“Not here.”

His teeth tugged on her pouty lip before he collapsed onto the bed, holding Kelly to him as he settled on his back. He let go as she pushed against the bed, wanting up.

“You have something against showers?”

“Did you want to take a shower?”

Kelly settled between his legs, her hands just above his knees. “Not yet. I figured maybe after we ate, work up a good sweat at least a few more times.” She squeezed his thighs and smiled at the flash of teeth.

“I like the way you think.”

Slowly, gently, she massaged her way up his thighs, thumbs staying on the soft flesh.

“How long did they tell you, before the food arrives.”

“No more than 45 minutes.”

Kelly smiled as she moved over him, her hair trailing up his abs, to his chest, over his face before she gave him a light peck on the lips.

“That was what, five, ten minutes ago? So, I’ve got like, 30, 35 minutes. What to do, what to do…”

“I’ve got a couple ideas for ya, Kel.”

“Thanks, but, I’ve got an idea or two of my own.”

She started over, what she’d been doing in the shower, this time paying attention to every inch of skin as she worked her way south. Kelly had fun, teasing him, making Chris think that she was taking a straight path. Only, when she found his pectorals, she moved back up to his ears, lips soft as she sucked his lobe between them.

“You took such good care of me, let me do the same for you.”

Next thing he knew, she was kissing along his waist before her tongue took a ride down the pronounced V of his Adonis belt. She stopped, abruptly, and grabbed the glass from the bedside table. She was up in a flash.

“Be right back.”

Chris grabbed for her, but no such luck: she was already out of the room.

“Where are you going? Hey, I didn’t abandon you!”

He smiled at her laughter.

“I didn’t abandon you. It’s just… a little bit of a delay.”

Chris groaned at hearing there would be a delay. He heard her automatic ice maker and assumed she was getting water. It was taking longer than he expected. He had half a mind to get up and see what was taking her so long.

“How long?”

“How long what?” She was in the doorway as she finished her question, full glass of water in hand.

“How long of a delay?" He settled back down, hands behind his head and closed his eyes. "What you were doing was feeling so good.”

“You liked that, huh?”

He heard her take a couple of sips before setting the glass back down.

“Fuck, yeah I did.”

He felt her settle once again, between his legs. The corners of his lips turned up as his teeth ran over his bottom lip. Of course, he yelped when he felt her ice cold tongue run back over his ‘V’.

“Don’t worry. I’ll make sure my mouth is nice and hot before I touch your dick.”

Chris reached for her head and she quickly intercepted his hands.

“Nope.”

He propped a folded pillow under his head.

“All I wanna do is watch. Promise, all I’m gonna do is hold your hair out of the way.”

She kissed a line from one hipbone to the other, her ice-cold lips giving him gooseflesh.

“You do anything else and I stop. Deal?”

“Deal.”

He reached behind her head, fingers scraping on her scalp as he finger-combed her hair. The silky feel of it on his abdomen was intoxicating. He gathered it into a tail on the side of her head, wrapping it around his fist, but keeping it loose. He didn’t want to give her any reason to stop.

Kelly’s teeth scraped over his pelvic bone before her tongue came back out to play. Chris jumped when he felt how cold it was.

“How much cold water did you drink?”

“I may have let an ice cube melt in my mouth. Or two.”

Chris’s bark of laughter brought a smile to Kelly’s lips.

“You, my dear, are the devil.”

“Don’t you know it.”

She went back to using Chris’s warm skin to help heat her mouth, biting her way down his hip, licking a wide stripe across to the tender flesh of his inner thigh. She smiled, his groan of appreciation emboldening her actions. She followed the contour of his leg back up his hip and repeated her actions on his other thigh.

She watched as his dick got harder, the head turning the same cherry-red as his lips. She’d heard about this, but it was more than obvious with Chris. She didn’t want to avoid him any longer, but at the same time, she wanted to tease him, if only a little.

Short, tiny one inch licks along the base of his cock, ensuring her tongue was not dry, before pulling back and gently blowing on him, that got his attention. Although, it wasn’t like she didn’t already have his attention. There was no question as to where he was focusing.

Kelly kept traveling up his dick, moving slowly, feeling his soft, silky skin get hotter and tighter under her tongue. Her lips, soft, wet, surrounded the head as she massaged it, she took her sweet time as her tongue circled the crown. She used her lips to stroke and massage the head, her eyes never leaving his face. She studied him, the quirk of the corner of his lips, when his tongue came out and he sucked his bottom lip into his mouth, biting, _was he trying to avoid making a sound?_ Slowly up and down, softly stroking, a little extra pressure here, a little less there, waiting, biding her time.

A little lower, she wondered if that would do the trick.

And it did. Chris closed his eyes.

That was when she took all of him in her mouth. She felt the head slip into her throat and counted…

_One._

Chris’s hand spasmed, yanking her hair just the slightest bit.

_Two._

“Fuck, Kel.” She would have smiled if she could at his whispered cry.

_Three._

Up she came. She could never last longer than a count of three before she’d hit her delayed gag reflex. She went back to the slow, soft stroking with her tongue and lips, just on the head, as Chris recovered.

“Why’d you stop?”

“Keep you guessing.”

“It wasn’t because I pulled-”

“Hn-uh,” she wouldn’t take her lips or tongue from him, just like a child intent on savoring the sugary-sweet lollipop she’d unwrapped. Lips up and down, tongue swirling, first one way then the opposite. This time, when he briefly closed his eyes, she only bobbed partway down, tongue curving around him, cupping him as she pulled her head slowly back up. She loved hearing Chris’s labored breathing, and she loved staring into his lust-darkened eyes as she took more of him in. Slowly, up and down, tongue cupping and swirling, probing. She knew he wanted more, more pressure, more speed, more. She obliged him, all the way.

_One._

“Fuck!” His hand spasmed open this time, not wanting to yank on her again.

_Two._

He couldn’t help his hip thrust this time, though.

_Three._

His eyes were wide as she came off him again, concentrating on the cherry red head that ended up between her lips. Kelly did what she could to keep the hair out of her eyes, and was failing.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry, Kelly, I didn’t mean to-”

“Hn-uh,” she kept losing strands of hair until Chris took hold again.

Kelly did everything in her power to keep him at that point: not quite ready to come, but only a minute or two away, toying with him, until she saw a shadow walk past her window.

It was time. Down she went.

_One._

“Please, let me come this time.”

_Two._

_< Knock knock knock>_

_Three._

She pulled off him and got off the bed.

“Oh, come on!”

“Food’s here. I’m starving.”

Kelly snagged her robe from the floor, grinning brightly and giggling as she left the room. A minute later she was back with the receipt and a pen.

“Here.” She handed the slip of paper and pen over to him. Chris glared at her, not making a move. “It’s not the driver’s fault. You don’t want to make him late delivering his next order, do you?”

He signed the slip, handing it back to her.

About a minute later he heard the front door close and then plates and glasses and silverware being pulled from cupboards and drawers. He heard her crack open a couple of sodas and was in the kitchen in no time flat.

Chris grabbed the pizza out of her hand and tossed it to the plate. He untied the sash of her robe, stripping it from her as he picked her up and encouraged her legs around him.

“Whatrya-” he backed her up to the wall, hands under her legs, pinning her open to him.

“I need you to tell me this is okay.” He watched as the twinkle in her eyes grew bright. She nipped at his bottom lip before wrapping her arms around his neck, answering in his ear.

“Fuck me, Chris.” She felt him right where he needed to be. “Fuck me hard, baby. Take what you need.”

She felt him enter her and then pull right back out.

“You sure that’s what you want?”

“Yeah. I teased you for a long time, baby. Take what you need from me.” Kelly knew it wouldn’t take long, and she was right. Chris was good for about a minute and a half before he was spilling into her.

In another minute, they found themselves on the tile floor, both panting for breath. The first to recover, Kelly was up and took an extra large bite of the pizza Chris had tossed to the plate. She went to the bathroom to clean up and by the time she got back, Chris had finished hers and was eating his own slice. He pulled her to his side and gave her a sloppy, cheese-filled kiss.

“What’s on tap for tonight?”

She took a bite of the slice he held up for her and pondered her answer. She gestured to the wall. “Besides more of that, if that’s something you want?”

“Oh, I want. I want as much of that as I can get.”

“Good. Me too.” She was finding it hard to eat and grin at the same time. “I also want to watch some of the movies, though Paul told me I’m not allowed to watch more than one a day.”

“I knew I liked Paul.”


	15. Chapter 15

****Kelly woke Friday morning, stretching this way and that before curling back into Chris’s side. She didn’t need, nor want, the extra body heat. She wanted the kiss on the forehead that she’d get from him and she wanted his hand on her back and she wanted her arm around his waist, all of which she got. Most of all, what she needed was him holding her close; that was almost her favorite part. Almost.

It took them a while to get up, and it was Chris’s gurgling stomach that made them start to deal with the day.

About half an hour after eating the Frosted Flakes that Kelly had, they decided to polish off what remained from their dinner: the garlic cheese bread, half slice of vegetarian pizza, and two bites of salad- _see, I told you you_ _’d be starving after half an hour! Fine, you were right. What was that? You were right, you don’t have to rub it in._ As they were eating, they had a debate about what to do for the day.

_I do want to watch the next Iron Man movie_  
_I_ _’m thinking we need to explore some creative ways to use some of your furniture_  
_A shower at some point would be good_  
_We should do what we can for the environment and conserve water, you know, shower together._  
_You know, we had a lot of pizza last night. I_ _’m going to need to work out today.  
_ _I_ _’m going to need more food. If you’re not going to let me get dressed, maybe we can get some better delivery this time._

It was when they started talking about what they were going to do about lunch- _this wasn_ _’t lunch, this was a continuation of breakfast_ -that Chris mentioned that they’d been invited over to Mackie’s for the 4th.

“So. Saturday, Mackie invited us over for the fourth.”

“When did he do that?”

“Yesterday, right before I left.”

“He invited us over when you were still ignoring me?”

“He told me I was being an idiot and if I got my head out of my ass and got you to take a second chance on me, _we_ were invited.”

“Isn’t he sweet, he’s looking out for you.”

“I’m pretty sure he thinks you’re good for me.”

“Oh really?” Kelly pushed on him until he was leaning against the back of the couch. She quickly straddled him, hands on his shoulders. “What do you think?”

Chris worked his finger under the sash on her robe and followed it the circumference of her body. “That you’re wearing too many clothes.”

“All I’m wearing is a robe.”

“My point exactly. You need to be naked.”

“And you shouldn’t be wearing your shorts.”

He lifted her off him and sat up. Next thing Kelly knew her robe was in a heap on the floor. Chris stood up and pulled her towards him. Lifting her, kissing her, walking back to the bedroom with her in his arms, Chris didn’t waste any time. He set her on the bed, lowering himself over her, his smile mirroring hers.

“Also, I think he was right.”

* * *

They couldn’t really doze since it was just barely cooler than a sauna in her bedroom. She had air conditioning and it worked. Problem was, they were both too hot to move. Funny how that didn’t stop her from throwing her leg over his, or from him holding her right against his side.

“Okay, so what are we bringing?”

“Where?”

“For tomorrow. Don’t you need to show up with something?”

“You.”

“Seriously.”

“Seriously. He told me I needed to make up with you so you’d agree to go. I wasn’t allowed to show up without you.”

“Oh, I see. Now I get it. You’re just being nice to me to score an invite. Once Saturday passes, it’ll be back to ignoring me. I get it now.”

Kelly couldn’t understand why she couldn’t keep a straight face around Chris. She could barely get the last sentence out. She was giggling uncontrollably. Then again, it could have had something to do with Chris tickling her. The problem with that theory, though, was that she wasn’t ticklish.

“Why do I need to show up with anything besides you?”

She didn’t understand why he was clueless.

“You don’t expect him to supply everything, do you?”

“He didn’t tell me I needed to bring anything else.”

“Did you ask?”

“I didn’t know I was supposed to.”

Her sigh spoke volumes. “Oh for crying out loud, you are such a boy.”

“I beg to differ. I am all man.”

Kelly knew that if she even acknowledged that statement they’d never finish the conversation.

“How about you give him a call and find out. As far as I can tell, you going to the store would be the only acceptable reason to allow you to put on clothes.”

“Only if you’ll go with me.”

“How domestic of you.”

“I don’t think I want you out of my sight today. No, let’s make that all weekend.”

* * *

Kelly came back into the bedroom with ice water for both of them just as Chris hung up. It was a good thing he called. He got a list of things that he could bring, with instructions.

“I need to call him this afternoon to let him know what we’re bringing. By the way, he told me I’m smarter than I look since I was able to get you to forgive me. I agreed with him on that.”

“Oh, you did, did you?”

“Yep.”

“So, what’s on the list? Do we need to go to the store?”

“I need to grab some beer. He said besides anything else I bring, I need to bring ice. Everyone is required to bring ice. What do you want to drink?”

“Beer sounds good. Wait. How long are we going to be there?”

“He’s got a pool, he said there’ll be some games. Early afternoon, 1 or 2 until whenever we decide to leave, definitely after fireworks.”

“I can’t drink all day, so maybe some root beer or lemonade. Oh, and we have to have vanilla ice cream for root beer floats if we get root beer.”

“Let’s get both.”

“What else what else what else? I’ll need sunblock if we’re going to spend the day outside.”

“Good call. Something to snack on? He’s taking care of dinner.”

“I can do different kinds of dip, ooo, like guacamole and chips. You know what? We should head to the store now.” Kelly got off the bed, dodging Chris’s grab to keep her where she was. “I need ripe avocados and I’ll bet they are all hard as a rock. Plus, we need food for today and Sunday and I’m going to want to stock up for next week. Come on, lazy butt, let’s go!”

* * *

Kelly insisted that she do her shopping separately from Chris but he wouldn’t let her pay for anything for Saturday. He finished well ahead of her and was waiting out in his SUV, exhausted from the heat and lack of sleep, with the air-conditioning blasting. He realized he was in a much better place than he’d been just 24 hours ago: miserable, alone, sure Kelly would never talk to him again.

The day after everything went down with Michael, Chris wouldn’t listen to anyone. She’d been hiding something from him and wouldn’t tell him. She’d stopped talking to him when she found out who he was and had hid it from her. How was this any different?

Mackie told him he was an idiot.

Renner told him he needed to grow up and talk to her.

But it wasn’t until Paul pulled him aside that he started to listen. No matter what he said or did, Paul wouldn’t tell him what was going on but did tell him that he was making a big mistake- _dude, not my secret to tell, but when you learn what it is, you_ _’ll kick yourself._

Chris hadn’t just been upset, he’d been angry. He’d been angry at Michael for hurting Kelly, angry at Mackie and Renner for being the ones who’d saved her- _that_ _’s my job-_ and angry at Paul for keeping her secret. Most of all, though, he’d been angry at Kelly, and for so many reasons: for making him care about her, for making him laugh, for making him look forward to seeing her each day, for being so damned sexy and not even knowing it.

He also hated her for hiding something from him. _What_ , he didn’t know, but he knew it was big. The real problem, though, was that he didn’t actually hate her, and that made him even angrier.

He’d finished his day and headed home. Everyone’s words of advice were rattling around in his head, colliding with his own thoughts and beating them back, if only for a few moments. He got home and grabbed a beer and a few minutes later grabbed another one and headed outside, working up the courage-

He was startled out of his daydreaming when Kelly rapped on his window. He rolled it down.

“I need you to unlock the back so I can get my bags in the car. Come on, my ice cream’s melting as we speak!”

Chris got out and helped her with her bags, giving her a quick kiss before they got back into the car.

It was too bad he was as tired as he was. If he hadn’t been so tired, he wouldn’t have missed him, the guy with the camera taking their picture.

Chris made it back in record time and they were in the kitchen when Kelly glanced at him as she finished putting all the food away. Chris was scowling.

“What’s with the face? You forget something?”

“Nope.”

She waited but when he wouldn’t elaborate she had to poke. She needed to know, “what’s wrong?”

“Everything put away?”

“Yeah. I’m not making the guacamole until tomorrow because those avocados need to ripen. Why, what’s up?”

Chris picked Kelly up, waiting patiently as she took her sweet time to wrap her legs around his waist.

“What’re you up to, dancin’ man?”

He’d taken a couple of steps towards her bedroom when she called him _that name_. Chris came to a screeching halt. “What is it going to take for you to stop calling me that?”

“But I like calling you that. You don’t like it?”

“I think there are better things.”

“Like…”

“Um, how about Romeo?”

Chris liked Kelly’s laugh: part little girl giggle, part silent belly laugh, and if it went on long enough, her whole body would get involved. He loved making her laugh.

“I’m not calling you that in public.”

He pinned her to the wall.

“What about in private?”

She put her arms around his neck as she studied him. Her mischievous grin came out just before she answered.

“I’ll call you anything you want.”

He leaned in and whispered in her ear. Chris felt her fingers flex and grab hold as he spoke.

“Oh my. Is that what you really want, Chris?”

He gave a quick kiss to Kelly’s neck before pulling back. He needed to see what she thought.

“If you’re up for it.”

He resisted the urges he felt when she licked her lips.

“I’ll give it the ol’ college try.”

“Good. First thing’s first, though. You’re wearing entirely too many clothes.”

“I thought that was my rule for you.”

“I’m making it a rule for you, too.”

“So wait a minute, what on earth are we going to do if we’re both naked?”

It was Chris’s turn to study Kelly. The flush to her cheeks and excitement in her eyes put the dimples in his cheeks.

“I got some things in mind, things we can do to pass the time.”


	16. Chapter 16

****Chris and Kelly were the last to arrive at Mackie’s house, but Chris was forgiven the moment they entered and everyone saw that Kelly was with him. She did hear a couple of _you actually forgave him_ s and laughed when she saw that Chris had heard, too. She explained that his reaction was completely understandable and as far as she was concerned, there wasn’t anything to forgive. Rather than expand any further, and actually have to explain herself, which she really didn’t want to do, she declared it to be a drama-free day

It took some time before everyone was out back and getting ready to enjoy the day. Kelly felt the need to say a private thank you to both Renner and Mackie for their help with Michael. She hadn’t spent any real time around them since Tuesday and she needed each of them to know she was grateful and in their debt.

Chris had been outside, setting things up and when he came back in and saw her hugging first one, then the other he couldn’t help but feel a little jealous. He should have been the one to help her. He should have been there to protect her. He was happy that, in his absence, his friends had helped her, but it should have been him.

A few minutes later everyone was outside, spreading towels on chairs and shucking t-shirts and shorts. Kelly felt patriotic when she revealed her blue and white polka dot bikini top and her red and white striped boyshorts. She was trying to figure out how she was going to put the sunblock on her back when a hand shot in front of her face. She glanced up at Chris and saw something… dark.

“What’s that look for?”

His eyes roamed over her, almost as if he hadn’t heard her. He finally settled on her lips.

“Why don’t you let me help you?”

She heard it in his voice, what he wanted. And while she wanted exactly what he did, they were in the presence of others so _not gonna happen_. Then a thought occurred to her.

“Now I get it.”

“Get what?”

“What that look’s for.”

“What look?”

“Don’t play innocent with me. The one on your face right now. Here’s a clue for you.” She motioned him to come down to her so he knelt on the grass as she sat on the chaise. She took his hands and placed them on her knees, her hands covering his. “You don’t need an excuse to put your hands on me. And newsflash: that goes both ways. All I ask is that you keep whoever we’re around in mind. Deal?”

“Deal.”

“Now, I will need some help with the sunblock.”

Chris made a grab for the bottle and Kelly had to hide it behind her back with a giggle and a shake of her head.

“Cool your jets there, dancin’ man. Why don’t you go do a little soft shoe over in the corner. Let me take care of the places I can reach. You can get everywhere else.”

He parted her legs, hands traveling up her thighs as he moved closer.

“And what if I want to take care of all of your places?”

“You know if it was just the two of us I’d let you, right?” Kelly dropped the sunblock and put her hands on his, stopping their progression. “Since we’re with other people I don’t think that’d be a good idea.”

“You don’t trust me?”

Kelly couldn’t help but tsk at him. “I think you’ll start off with the best of intentions and end up getting carried away.”

She could see the wheels turning inside his head and wasn’t sure she was going to like the outcome.

“How about we try it and I prove you wrong.”

“And if I’m right?”

“You get to boss me around for an hour.”

“Ha! An hour isn’t enough of a consequence. A whole day.”

“That’s too much.”

“Sounds to me like you want me to boss you around. Oh my God, you’d get carried away on purpose, wouldn’t you?”

His smirk had her crowing about being right.

“First of all, let me set you straight: all ya gotta do is ask. I’ll be happy to boss you around.”

“I’ll remember that. What’s second?”

“And number two, go away for a few minutes. I’ll let you know when I’m ready for you.”

* * *

After winning the pool volleyball tournament, Kelly begged off any other games and sat by the side of the pool. As crazy as it was, anytime she was in a bathing suit, she could handle the heat better and she wanted to soak up the sun. A thought occurred to her and she popped up off the chaise. Chemicals to make swimming in a pool possible: good. Chemicals reacting to hair and turning it colors that were not intended: bad. She headed inside, grabbing a towel from the hallway linen closet and entering the bathroom, intent on rinsing out her hair.

Chris ducked in directly after her and shut the door.

“What are you-”

He picked her up, spun around and sat her down on the vanity, settling between her legs. Grabbing hold of her hair, he towered over her as he pulled her head back. She felt his kiss everywhere, but when his tongue flicked against her lips and then against her teeth and then against her tongue, her clit started tingling. He devoured her.

“You said I could touch you, but to keep everyone else in mind. I figured something like this was what you meant by that.”

“Mmhmm.”

Kelly wrapped her legs around him and damn it _why did they have to be in someone else’s house_? What she wouldn’t give to be back at her place, or at his-

His fingers, playing at the seam of her red and white striped boyshorts along her inner thigh, brought her back to her senses.

“Chris, no.”

“You don’t want this?”

“Not with everyone out there.”

“What if I kept quiet?”

“We both know you are not capable of staying quiet.”

He took his time, kissing from her shoulder to her neck, and felt her relax into him as she tilted her head, inviting him to continue.

“Did you enjoy yourself out there, teasing me in front of everyone?”

“What do you mean?”

“When you were playing with Renner.”

“Why, ‘cause I was sitting on his shoulders playing volleyball?”

She tightened her grip, pulling him closer and making it all but impossible for him to sneak his fingers under her bottoms. She rubbed against him, feeling him get harder, but that wasn’t what he had in mind. He broke her hold and spread her legs, hands traveling up her thighs.

“He had his hands on your legs. Did you imagine him touching you?”

“No.”

“No? You didn’t imagine him touching you? You didn’t imagine his fingers roaming over you?”

His fingers slipped under her bathing suit and played along her soft, slick skin. Even though she’d been prepared for it, he still took her breath away.

“You didn’t imagine him setting you down on the side of the pool so he could bury his face in your sweet pussy?” He sucked on an earlobe as his fingers, working back and forth, gently part her labia. Kelly’s eyes fluttered shut.

In seconds, Chris had Kelly turned around and trapped between him and the counter, facing the mirror.

“Keep your eyes open. I want you to watch what I do to you.”

His fingers played along her slick skin, a couple of them slowly pumping in and out of her. Kelly tried to get away, but it was no use. Chris held her to him as she started to tremble.

“Did you imagine him doing this to you? Playing with you, toying with you, feeling how wet you’d get from him barely touching you? Dragging this out, stringing you along until you were begging him to let you come?”

Chris smiled as Kelly’s breath shuttered out of her. He pulled his fingers out of her, trailing her wetness, rubbing it all over. He formed a ‘v’ around her clit, giving her only an illusion as he stroked either side of her, careful not to touch. She squirmed, desperate for some direct contact.

“If you don’t stop moving, I’m going to tease you the rest of the weekend and not let you come.”

“You wouldn’t!”

He hunched down, setting his jaw on her shoulder. He held her gaze in the mirror.

“Is that a challenge?”

“No!”

“Then stop moving.”

Hands gripping the edge of the counter, holding on as if her life depended on it, were what got her to stop moving. She bowed her head and closed her eyes, willing her body to hold still.

“You’re just gonna tease me, aren’t you?”

“No, you’ll come when I’m done with you. Come on, head up, keep your eyes open. I want you to see what I see.”

It took an enormous amount of effort to comply with his demand, but she had to know. “Why? What do you see?”

“I see someone who is completely lost in what I’m doing to her.”

Chris carefully played with her, not touching her right where she wanted. He was testing her: would she move? Would she tremble? Would she moan or whimper?

“You are so beautiful, Kel, just like this. I know all I have to do is move my finger about half an inch to the right and you’d be singing for me, wouldn’t you?”

“Please?”

“You want to, don’t you? You want to come for me?”

“Yes, please.”

“I don’t think we want everyone knowing what we’re doing in here, do we.”

“Don’t care.”

He knew he didn’t need to speak any louder than a whisper, not this close to her. “I think you would. We’ll need to make sure you stay quiet. You weren’t quiet at your place; can you be quiet here?”

Her nod was more of a spasm than an agreement.

“You want to come for me?”

Chris smiled at the look she gave him, pleading for her release.

“Oh, yes.”

“Just yes?”

It took a moment for what he said to register, before she hastily added, “please!”

“Do you think I need to take my time, make sure you remember to ask nicely?”

“Please, no.”

“You know how much I like it when you say ‘please’.”

Chris moved the tip of his index finger a little faster and a hair’s breadth closer. He watched as Kelly sucked her bottom lip between her teeth and bit, hoping he’d keep moving.

“You going to stay quiet?”

Kelly looked at his reflection and nodded, her face flushing a deeper color of red just before his middle finger-

“Come for me, baby. I want you to watch yourself come.”

Her jaw was now wide, the only sound coming from her was when she gasped for air. Chris, needing to feel her, slipped inside her once more, fingers curled. He loved the sound of her sopping wet pussy, his hand working her furiously as the heel of his palm rocked against her.

She tried, she did. Her struggle was real. She tried to do what he wanted, but her eyes rolled and her body shook and jolted as her eyes squeezed shut. Her brain only had room for one thing: keep quiet or keep her eyes open. It chose to keep quiet.

Chris was relentless, stroking her right on past her first orgasm and into her second. Kelly was so lost in what he was doing she couldn’t keep completely quiet the second time. It wasn’t that she was all that noisy, but if someone happened to be outside the door, they would certainly have known what was going on inside.

He thought about going for a third, but decided against it. He slowed and watched as she became aware of her surroundings again. If he could have his way, this was how he always wanted her to look: spent, flushed. Sated.

Chris kissed Kelly’s temple before licking his fingers as she made sure her suit was back in place.

“You know, next time, I’m going to want you to keep your eyes open.”

Kelly couldn’t help her laugh. “Not possible.”

“I think it is.”

“I have a hard enough time just staying quiet-”

“Next time, you won’t need to stay quiet.”

Kelly turned so she could look directly at him, rather than look at his reflection.

“No way am I going to make noise here.”

“That’s a different tune than just a few minutes ago. I’m talking about at home.”

“Okay, well, home’s a different story. By the way, I think I forgot something.”

“What’s that?”

She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him in for a kiss that lingered. And lingered.

Chris had been especially looking forward to one of the happy side effects from making Kelly come: she’d become affectionate, wanting to hug him, kiss him, touch him in any way she could. As much as he’d tried to make it sound like he was joking about it, he actually had been jealous: he hadn’t liked seeing Jeremy’s hands on her.

“Thank you for that.”

“For what?”

“You dork. You want me to say it, don’t you?” His nod gave her courage to say the words. “For making me come.”

“You’re welcome. Next time, you’ll be watching yourself. What did you come in here for, anyway?”

“Rinse out my hair, get the chemicals out.”

“Wait, are you done swimming?”

“Yeah?” The quick raise of his eyebrows made her think twice. “What’s wrong?”

“Well, you haven’t gone swimming with me.”

“You want me to go swimming with you?”

“Yeah. We haven’t spent that much time together today.”

“Okay, I figured once everything calmed down and we all settled down, well, I thought we’d eat and watch the fireworks and spend the rest of the time here together. And of course we’ll be going home together.”

“Good to know you’re not going home with Renner.”

Kelly did not like how Chris was sounding. She didn’t care for jealousy. She took a couple of steps back.

“Where’d that come from?”

“You looked like you were having fun with him.”

“Yeah, because we beat Mackie and Mackie’s teammate: his mouth. Renner’s like, what, 15, 20 years older than me? Not interested. I only have time for one guy and he’s standing right in front of me.”

“You sure?”

“Positive.” She wanted this done and over with. “Now, are you done being jealous and insecure? Can you and I go swimming? Go have some fun?”

“You’ll go swimming with me?”

She changed gears on him, smiling as she approached, putting her hands on the back of his neck and pulling him down to her for a quick kiss.

“My boyfriend asks me to go swimming with him and I’m dressed for it? Of course.”

It was Chris’s turn, his hands finding their way to her bum and settling there. 

“I’m your boyfriend?”

With his head cocked to the side and his the question lingering in the air, Kelly was sure she was seeing little 12-year old Chris.

“If I recall correctly, you called me your girlfriend in that bar on Monday, and we are having sex now, and you got jealous over Renner. What would you call us?”

“Works for me.”

Once they were presentable, they rejoined the other guests. While some glances were exchanged when they hopped into the pool and started acting like a couple of teenagers who couldn’t get enough of each other, no one wanted to interrupt them.

* * *

They were out of the pool and letting the sun dry them off a little while later. Kelly was on her chaise, listening to Chris tell one of his stories, when he said something funny (later she wouldn’t be able to remember what it was) and glanced up at him. He was leaning against a tree, beer in hand, and she had a sense of deja vu. It took her some time, but she finally figured it out, and then Chris’s reaction to the events of the day made sense to her. For the rest of the day, Kelly made sure she was near Chris.

It was many hours later, hamburgers and salads and watermelon and root beer floats consumed that the group had tossed tons of blankets about the lawn, overlapping them to create a large bug-free surface.

Some of the couples were cozy and some were casual, but all were waiting, as the sun set, for the first thump-whistle-bam! of fireworks being set off.

Chris and Kelly were one of the cozier couples, set up apart from just about everyone else.  She was between his legs, leaning back against him and he was leaning up against her, his chin on her shoulder and his arms about her; they were propping each other up.

“Have you had fun today, Kelly?”

“Mmhmm. Yeah, I have.”

They stayed silent, listening as another couple had a disagreement over how many beers he’d had and whether or not he could have another one and still drive home safely. Luckily Mackie intervened and set everyone straight about drinking and driving and what was and was not allowed.

No one spoke once he was done, so the two whispered like conspirators.

“What was your favorite part.”

“About today?”

“Mmhmm.”

She didn’t answer right away which made him wonder what she was going to say. She hugged his arms closer.

“Right now.”

“Oh, come on.”

“I’m serious. The moment the fireworks start? Probably then. And when we get home tonight? Pretty sure that’ll be the highlight to the whole day. I’ve had fun today, and it keeps getting better and better.”

“We could always go home now…”

“No way am I missing fireworks.”

They felt, more than heard the concussive thump-whistle of the first of the neighborhood fireworks being lit and were momentarily distracted by the displays and the noise. There were lots of oohs and aahs as the colors and shapes exploded overhead. It went unnoticed by the other party goers that Chris and Kelly missed just about all of them. They were too busy kissing.

It was not unnoticed, though, by everyone.

* * *

It was on the drive home, when they were alone and couldn’t be overheard, that Kelly brought up what had been on her mind for a significant portion of the day.

“I need to apologize for earlier.”

“What for?”

“For making you think, well, I don’t know if you actually thought about it, but you did joke about it so it had to have crossed your mind.”

“What’s that?”

“For making you think I would ever consider replacing you with someone else.”

“I know you wouldn’t.”

Kelly was tempted to let it drop, to take him at his word. The problem was that she heard it in his voice: his words, dismissing hers, were belied by his tone: he didn’t believe what he was saying.

She turned sideways in her seat and watched him drive. She watched the way his hands gripped the steering wheel, knuckles flashing white with the passing of every street lamp, and how his thigh would flex as he braked or sped up. She watched as he squinted when someone used their brights and g-rumbled under his breath at the ‘idiot’, and how his jaw muscles stood in full relief. Kelly couldn’t help herself as she reached up and touched his face. She wanted to help him relax.

“Hm? What’s up?”

“I just saw you getting tense, that’s all.”

He took her hand, kissed the back of her knuckles, and held it to his chest for the rest of the way home.

Once they were in his place (she surprised him by walking up his steps rather than hers with a _we can put everything away tomorrow_ ), she took him by the hand and led him back to his bedroom.

“I really want you to hear me on this, okay?”

When Chris didn’t answer, she glanced back at him.

“Okay?”

“Okay.”

She had him take off his shoes before he sat on the edge of the bed. She looked at him for a moment, trying to figure out what to do, when she saw the look on his face. It wasn’t anger. She was momentarily taken aback when she saw how hurt he was. She knew she needed a way to make him listen to her, to hear her.

“Get on the bed and lay down. No, don’t take off your clothes. It’s not time for that yet.”

She straddled him, knees on either side of his waist. When she bent over so she could watch his reactions, he tried to take off her shirt.

“I just said: it’s not time for that yet.”

She could tell she was frustrating him. She slowed everything down as she gently caressed his face. She waited for the tension to leave as she stroked the evidence: the crinkles around his eyes, the creases in his brow, not to mention his jaw. She waited for him to relax and unclench.

“Couple of days ago, your first thought when you heard me out back was that I was seeing someone else. Today, you were talking about Jeremy when we were in the bathroom, and you commented about me going home with him. I don’t have sex with one man only to turn around and try to get another one into my bed.” She quickly put her hand over his lips when he opened his mouth to speak. “No, please, let me finish.” Her smile was soft when he nodded. “Dating and sex for me are a one guy at a time kinda thing. We’ve had a crazy beginning to this relationship and I’m sorry for my part in making you think that I would see anyone else besides you.”

“I know you wouldn’t-”

No way was she going to let him get away with denying it.

“Chris, you got jealous.”

“I didn’t think you’d go home with him.”

She screwed her mouth to the side as she wondered for only a split second if she should dig deeper. She knew she needed to.

“Then what was the jealousy about?”

The tension was back on his face.

“This makes me sound so pathetic, but, you were spending your time with everyone but me.”

Kelly sat up, not to get away from him, but because she needed to process what he’d just said. She’d been told this by a former boyfriend, that she never paid enough attention to him and at the time she thought it was just him. She may have been speaking out loud, but she was really working everything out in her head.

“We’d only just gotten back together, not that we were ever really apart, but… and I sure wasn’t acting like I was part of a couple. And this is the first time we went anywhere together, as a couple.” Everything came into focus and she spoke up, talking to Chris. “You weren’t even sure I considered you- you were surprised when I called you my boyfriend. I am so sorry. It hadn’t dawned on me.”

“Two days ago you weren’t even speaking to me.”

Kelly got off of Chris altogether. She waited a few seconds and when she thought she saw that he really believed what he’d just said, she lashed out.

“No, you don’t get to rewrite that. Two days ago you weren’t speaking to me.”

Realizing what he’d done, Chris reached for her. “You’re right. Kel, I’m sorry. You’re right.”

Kelly hated how she’d just sounded. She didn’t want to fight or argue or have a disagreement, or to make Chris feel awful, like he’d done something wrong. They were both wrong and they were both right and she wanted the past in the past.

“I get why, I do, and I don’t blame you, but you’d cut off everything. You wouldn’t even talk to me when I had to come get you. You avoided me, you literally turned your back on me. You made it crystal clear you wanted nothing to do with me. You didn’t even give me a chance, Chris.”

Try as she might to avoid it, Kelly was right back in that head space, Chris ignoring her and realizing that if Mackie and Renner hadn’t come to help out, she could have been seriously hurt. Or worse. She’d tried texting Chris Tuesday night when she knew he was home and when he didn’t respond, she knew that was it. Those memories flooded her and she could feel the tears trying to come out.

“Where would we be now if you hadn’t hopped the fence, because of what you heard?”

“Right where we are now. I’d-”

“Chris, don’t-”

“No. Come on, I didn’t interrupt you, Kel.”

Kelly felt that sharp rebuke and made a show of clamping her lips together.

Chris continued. “I’d already decided to come talk to you, see if we could work things out. I needed some liquid courage because I knew I’d been wrong to ignore you. I was on my second beer when I went outside and heard you.”

“Oh.”

“I don’t think I ever actually apologized. I’m sorry for ignoring you. My ego got in the way and it took longer than it should have for me to see that. I was hurt and took it out on you. Forgive me?”

“Looks like we’re both looking for forgiveness.”

“Looks like.”

“I’ll forgive you on one condition.”

“Name it.”

It had been far too long since they had last kissed. She lay down beside him and went back to gentle touches before she kissed him, taking control, kissing him like she hadn’t seen him in weeks. Chris’s hands on her ass, grabbing hold and pulling her close, made her stop so she could confess. “I want make-up sex tonight.”

Chris’s grin matched Kelly’s.

“I think that can be arranged.”

“Is that what you want?”

“Make-up sex is good. Make-up sex with you is great.”

“We haven’t had make-up sex.”

“Our first time was make-up sex.”

She thought about that before she nodded her agreement. “I can see that. It was damn good.” She came close to telling him more than that, but decided against it. It could wait for later. “Can we do that again?” She gave him a quick kiss before pulling back and using her sweetest voice. “Please?”

“Fuck!”

“Pretty please?” She couldn’t stop her grin.

“You know I’m a sucker for your please. Is that what you really want?”

“Yeah.”

“Never let it be said I deny you what you really want.”


End file.
